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HAND-BOOK 



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HOUGHTON'S CONSPECTUS 



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BY 

PROF. JOHN DITNLAP, A.M. 



NEW YORK: 

ARTHUR V. "WILTSIE, Publisher, 

5 Dey Street. 






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Copyright, 1881, 

BY 

ARTHUR V. WILTS IE. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Press of Macgowan & Slipper, 
30 Beekman St., New York. 



PREFACE. 



The Hand-Book is adapted to both the chart and 
book form. It is designed to aid the teacher by enabling 
him to economize his time and labor. It is designed to 
assist the scholar by giving him a systematic order of 
study by means of a series of questions which direct his 
attention to the detailed facts, thus enabling him to 
master the work with greater ease and facility. 

It follows the order of the chart, and the chrono- 
logical order of events. 

It is divided into sections corresponding to the verti- 
cal spaces or divisions of the chart. In order to increase 
its utility in the school-room, each section is divided 
into lessons. These lessons are purposely made short, 
that thoroughness may be secured, and satiety avoided. 

Interspersed are brief biographical notices of persons 
who have been prominent in the political history of the 
country, and such other information as our Hmited space 
will allow. 



SECTION I. 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

1776—1789. 

SUGGESTIONS TO PUPILS. 

Examine the top of the chart, left-hand corner, or 
the folded plate at the end of the book. The three De- 
partments of the Government, with their subdivisions, 
are represented in a diagram. Study this diagram care- 
fully, until you familiarize yourself with, first, the three 
Departments of the Federal Government ; secondly, 
with what constitutes each Department. Then prepare 
answers to the following questions. After completing 
the first lesson, lay the book aside. After a proper in- 
terval, not less than an hour, take the Hand-Book, re- 
peat the questions, and answer them without reference 
to the Conspectus. Proceed in a similar manner with 
all the lessons. 



LESSON I. 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED. 

See Chart, left-hand, under diagram of Departments. 
Book Form. — See last folded plate. 

1. What is the Federal Government ? 

2. When was it organized ? 

3. In accordance with what provisions? 

4. For what general Departments does the Constitu- 
tion provide ? 



6 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

5. Of what does the Legislative Department consist ? 
Ans. Congress. 

6. What is Congress ? 

7. Of what is Congress composed ? 

8. How often does Congress hold regular sessions ? 

9. When does a regular session begin ? 

10. When close ? Ans. At 12 M. on the 4th of March. 

11. By whom may an extra session be called ? 

12. What is the length of a Congress ? 

13. Why two years? . 



LESSON II. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPAETMENT. 
SENATE. 

1. Give the method of finding what years were cov- 
ered by any particular Congress. 

2. How may the number of a Congress for any speci- 
fied year be found ? 

3. Find the number of the Congress of 1880. 
Solution. 1880 — 1789=91 ; add 1, and divide by 2 ; 

(91+1)^-2=46. Ans. 

4. What are the duties of Congress ? 

5. Of what branches does Congress consist ? 

6. How are laws passed ? 

7. Of what is the Senate composed ? 

8. What is the length of a Senator's term of office ? 
' 9. How are Senators chosen ? 

10. Who presides in the Senate ? 

11. What powers has the Senate without the concur- 
rence of the House of Representatives ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 

LESSON III. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

1. Of what is the House of Representatives com- 
posed ? 

2. Is the number of Representatives always the 
same? 

3. What produces changes in the number ? 

4. State the exclusive powers of the House of Rep- 
resentatives. 

5. What are the duties of the Judicial Department 
of the Government ? 

6. Of what does the Judicial Department consist ? 
1. What is the Supreme Court ? 

8. Of what composed ? 

9. Where is the Court held ? 

10. When does it commence its sessions ? 

11. To what are its labors chiefly confined? 

12. What is done with its decisions ? 

13. What do these decisions furnish? 

14. The decisions of the Supreme Court, up to the 
present time (1881), fill how many volumes ? 

15. What is the estimate in which these reports are 
held by foreign countries ? 



LESSON IT. 

JUDICIARY, CONTINUED EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Review the three preceding Lessons. 

1. Describe the Inferior Courts. 

2. The Circuit Courts are held in how many circuits ? 

3. Do these circuits embrace the whole country ? 



8 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

• ■ 

4. Where are District Courts held ? 

5. Where is the Court of Claims held ? 

6. What are the duties of the Executive Department? 

7. Of what does the Executive Department consist ? 

HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS. 

8. Name the Heads of Departments constituting the 
President's Cabinet. 

9. How many members constituted Washington's 
Cabinet ? Ans. Four. 

10. The Heads of what Departments ? Ans. Secretary 
of State, of Treasury, of War, and the Attorney 
General. 

The Secretary of the Navy became a member of the 
Cabinet in 1798, at the time of the organization of the 
Department. 

The Postmaster General became a Cabinet officer 
March 9, 1829, and the Secretary of the Interior was 
admitted to a seat in the Cabinet in 1849, at the time 
the Department was created. 

11. How many members in the Cabinet at the present 
time? 

12. When was the State Department organized ? 

13. What official is at the head of this Department ? 

14. State the duties of the Secretary of State. 

recapitulation, 
president's cabinet. 

1789 to 1798. 

Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Sec- 
retary of War, and Attorney General. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 

1798 TO 1829. 
Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Sec- 
retary of -War, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney General. 

1829 to 1849. 

Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Sec- 
retary of War, Secretary of the Navy, Postmaster 
General, and Attorney General. 

1849 TO PRESENT TIME. 

Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Sec- 
retary of War, Secretary of Navy, Secretary of the 
Interior, Postmaster General, Attorney General. 

MODE OF ELECTING TRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT. 

The President is elected for a term of four years by 
electors chosen by the people for that purpose. By an 
Act of Congress passed in 1792, the Electors, in each 
State, are required to be chosen within thirty-four days 
'preceding the first Wednesday of December in every 
fourth year succeeding the last Presidential election. 

The number of Electors in each State must be exactly 
equal to the number of United States Representatives 
and Senators to which the State is entitled. 

Neither a Representative nor Senator, nor any person 
holding any office of profit or trust under the United 
States, can be an Elector. 

The Electors are required to meet in their respective 
States at a place fixed by the Legislature, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, " one of whom, 
at least, shall not be an inhabitant of their own State." 
They are required to name, in distinct and separate bal- 
lots, the person voted for as President and the person 
voted for as Yice-President. 



10 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

. They are then required to make distinct lists of all 
the persons voted for as President and of all the per- 
sons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes for each. This list they sign and certify, and 
transmit, sealed, to the seat of Government of the 
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 

The President of the Senate, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, opens all the cer- 
tificates, and the votes are counted. 

The person having the greatest number of votes for 
President, if the number be a majority of all the Electors 
appointed, is the President. 

If no person has such majority, then, from those hav- 
ing the highest number, not exceeding three, the House 
of Representatives choose, immediately, by ballot, the 
President. 

The votes, in this case, are taken by States ; the rep- 
resentation from each State having one vote. 

The votes for Vice-President are opened and counted 
in the same way. If no one has a majority of all the 
Electors, then the Senate choose the Vice-President. 
(See Art. 12, of the Amendments to the Constitution, 
passed March 4th, 1789.) 

ELIGIBILITY TO THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT AND VICE- 
PRESIDENT. 

He must be a native born citizen of the United States, 
or a citizen at the time of the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion. 

He must have attained to the age of thirty-five years, 
and been fourteen years a resident within the United 
States. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 

LESSON V. 

HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS, CONTINUED. 

1. When was the Treasury Department organized ? 

2. What is the head of this Department called ? 

3. What is the business of the Secretary ? 

4. When was the War Department organized ? 

5. What official is at the head of it? What are his 
duties ? 

6. When was the Navy Department organized ? 

1. Previous to this time what official had charge of 
Naval affairs ? 

8. What is the official head of the Navy Department 
called ? 

9. What are the duties of the office ? 



LESSON VI. 

HEADS OE DEPARTMENTS, CONTINUED. 

1. When was the Post-office Department Organized ? 

2. What is the title of its chief magistrate ? 

3. When did the Postmaster General become a 
Cabinet officer ? 

4. What are the duties of the office ? 

5. When was the Department of Justice created ? 

6. What is the name of its chief official ? 

V. What are the duties of the Attorney General ? 

8. When was the Department of the Interior created ? 

9. Name its chief officer. 

10. Mention the duties of this Secretary. 



12 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSOK VII. 

DIAGRAM. VIEW OF THE COLONIES AND THE BEVOLTT- 

TION. 

It will be observed that Section I. embraces, on the 
Chart, the entire vertical space from the left hand mar- 
gin to the vertical line drawn from the top at the point 

marked 1789. 

Below the description of the Federal Government is 
the beginning of the diagram representing the Political 
Parties by colored streams. 

At the extreme left is a rectangular figure represent- 
ing the Colonies under British rule. 

%3TSee Book, first folded plate, for the same. 

1. What was the first grievance discussed and com- 
plained of by the Colonies ? 

2. What is the date of this complaint ? 

3. What was the second grievance, and when ? 

4. What was the third, and when ? 

5. What was the fourth, and when ? 

6. What three rights did the colonists claim and de- 
mand ? 

7. When did the war of the revolution break out ? 

8. When was the Declaration of Independence 
framed and adopted ? 

9. What two parties emerged from the Colonies ? 

10. When did they begin as separate political organ- 
izations ? 

11. When was the Confederation first advocated, and 

by which party ? 

12. When did the Tories cease to exist as a political 

party ? 

13. In 1181 what political parties were formed ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 

'■■ 14. What were the issues which gave rise to these 
parties ? 

It will add to the interest of the study of the Federal 
Government to know something of the distinguished 
men who took part in the struggle for liberty, as well 
as those who have borne a prominent part in the history 
of the Republic. 

Our limited space allows a mention of but few bio- 
graphical incidents in any particular case. Prominent 
among those who took part in the early struggle were 
Patrick Henry, John Hancock, I. James Wilson, 
Edmond Randolph, Samuel Adams, George Clinton, 
Richard Henry Lee, Henry Knox, and Samuel Osgood. 



J*OHN HANCOCK. 

John Hancock, a native of Massachusetts, born in 1737, 
was a prominent and successful merchant of Boston. 
In 1766 he was chosen to the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives. In 1770, after the massacre, he was a 
member of the committee chosen to demand of the 
Royal Governor the removal of the troops from the 

city. 

At the funeral of the slain he delivered an address 
which offended the Governor, who attempted to have him 
arrested. In 1774, he was chosen member of the Provin- 
cial Congress which met at Concord, and was made its 
President. In 1775, he was chosen President of the 
Continental Congress. In 1776, he signed the Declara- 
tion of Independence. In 1777, became a member of the 
convention for framing a constitution for Massachusetts. 
In 1780, was elected Governor of Massachusetts, and, 



14 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

except during an interval of two years, was re-elected 
annually until the time of his death, which occurred in 
1793. 

SAMUEL ADAMS. 

Samuel Adams, prominent among the leaders of the 
Anti-Federal party, was a native of Boston, born in 
1720. He was educated at Harvard, from which institu- 
tion he graduated in 1740. 

He turned his attention soon after he graduated to 
mercantile pursuits, and became an active merchant at 
Boston. In the contest of the Colonies with the mother 
country, Adams took a leading part. He was distin- 
guished for his courage, energy, and advocacy of 
republican principles. From 1765 to 1774 he repre- 
sented Boston in the General Court, and was its clerk. 
He took an active part in its debates, wrote most of its 
papers in the controversy with Bernard and Hutchinson. 

From 1777 to 1782 he was a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress. He did, perhaps, more than any 
other man to bring about a revolution. He helped form 
the State Constitution of 1780 for his native State, and 
was an active member of the Massachusetts Convention 
to consider the adoption of the Federal Constitution. 

He was Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts from 
1789 to 1794; at the last mentioned date he was elected 
Governor. He died in 1803. 



SAMUEL OSGOOD. 

Samuel Osgood, the first Postmaster General of the 
United States, was born in Massachusetts, in 1748; was 
educated at Harvard, and afterwards studied divinity. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 

Before entering upon his professional duties he changed 
his course and became a merchant. He was active in 
organizing the volunteer service of the revolution, and 
soon after hostilities commenced he was commissioned 
colonel of a regiment. He served in the Massachusetts 
Legislature. He was the first Commissioner of the 
United States Treasury. In 1789 he was appointed 
Postmaster General. 

He was the author of several religious works. He 
died in 1798. 

I. JAMES WILSON. 

I. James Wilson was one of the prominent leaders of 
the Federal party, and worked in harmony with Jay, 
Hamilton, and Madison. He was one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of 
Scotland, born in 1742. 

He became a lawyer in Philadelphia, served several 
terms in the Continental Congress, was a member of the 
Federal Constitutional Convention, and one of the first 
associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. In 1790 he became the first Professor of Law 
in the College of Philadelphia. 

He died in 1798. 

• EDMO.ND RANDOLPH. 

"Edmond Randolph, the first Attorney General of the 
United States, was a native of Virginia, born in 1753. 
He took active part in the events of the revolution. In 
1776, he was chosen a delegate to the Virginia Conven- 
tion. From 1779 to~1783 he was a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress; in 1787 was chosen a member of the 
Constitutional Convention. He refused to sign the 



16 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Constitution, but afterwards advocated its adoption. 
In 1788, was elected Governor of Virginia. In 1789, 
appointed United States Attorney General. In 1794, 
was appointed Secretary of State. He resigned in 1795 
because accused of an intrigue with the French Envoy. 
He published a vindication of his course. 
He died in 1813. 



PATRICK HENRY, 

A native of Virginia, was one of nine children. He 
was sent to school until he could read and write and 
had some knowledge of arithmetic. At home, under 
the instruction of his father, he obtained a limited 
knowledge of Latin, a very little Greek, and became 
something of a proficient in mathematics. He is said to 
have loved idleness, and to be far more fond of roaming 
in the woods and along the banks of streams with a 
fish pole in his hands than he was of books or work. 
His companions are said to remember no instance of 
premature wit, no flash of fancy, no striking sentiment, 
no strength of thought or beauty of expression. His 
person is represented as coarse, and his manners awk- 
ward. He, however, showed a propensity to observe 
and read human character. 

At fifteen he was put to a clerkship in a store, but 
failed to satisfy his employer. He was soon after set 
up with his brother in a country store, but made a com- 
plete failure. He married at eighteen, and by the aid 
of his own and his wife's father was established on a 
small farm. He farmed with poor success for two years, 
sold out, tried again the life of a merchant, and having 
but little custom he began to study geography and his- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 

tory, especially that of Greece and Rome. Livy was a 
favorite author. From him he learned the grandeur of 
the Roman character. . His business declined more and 
more, until he became bankrupt. He had, lying deep 
beneath his coarse exterior, great acuteness of feeling. 
Looking upon his wife and children in want, he felt 
that his cup of misery was full. He possessed great 
native firmness, and great reliance on that unseen arm 
which never long deserts the faithful. Here lies the 
secret of his future greatness. He himself said : " Having 
lost one part of my life in idleness and mistakes is no 
reason why I should throw away the other." 

His mind was not a freak of nature — it was simply a 
plant of slow growth. He now determined to make a 
trial of the law. His hopes were not high, but he 
believed he could earn a scanty subsistence for himself 
and family. 

For admission to the bar he must be examined by 
three examiners. Two had given him their signatures; 
the third was the King's Attorney General, a gentleman 
of courtly elegance of person and manners, a polished 
scholar, and profound lawyer — the distinguished John 
Randolph. 

Randolph was shocked at Henry's ungainly figure and 
address, and refused to examine him. Afterwards learn- 
ing that the other two had passed him, he changed his 
mind. Randolph soon found that, on points of law, he 
was deficient, but on points of equity requiring argu- 
ment he was equal to his examiner. 

He was admitted to practice at the age of twenty- 
four. For three years he was in the background. 

His first great speech was in defence of the people 
against the clergy in the celebrated tobacco suit, 1763. 



18 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

In this trial he gained a great victory and surprised 
everybody. 

In 1765 he became a member of the House of Bur- 
gesses. The House was composed of Virginia's greatest 
statesmen. 

Here Henry made his speech against the Stamp Act. 
In 1775, he made his great speech in the Virginia Con- 
vention, in which he electrified and united the people. 

In his profession his great forte lay in carrying the 
jury. In criminal suits he was said to be perfectly 

irresistible. 

Henry always deplored his early neglect of literature. 
His was the spirit to raise the whirlwind. His great 
speech in defence of liberty proves it. His private life 
was said to be as indicative of his greatness as his 
public. His disposition was mild, his affections warm, 
kind, and social; his temper even, unclouded, cheerful, 
and serene; his patience invincible; his manners plain, 
open, and familiar; his conversation easy and unaffected. 



LESSON VIII. 

COLONIAL. 
Chart.— Left hand margin, below " Presidential Electors." 
Book.— See 1th page. 

1. Were the Colonies divided among themselves by 
political parties ? 

2. What sentiments did they advocate adverse to 
those of the British Crown ? 

3. What did the Colonies contend was secured to 
them by their charters. 

4. How were these charters regarded ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 

5. By what rights did the Colonies claim supervision 
over all internal interests ? 

6. What reserved right did they accede to Parlia- 
ment ? 

7. What seemed to induce indirect taxation ? 

8. What was the first Legislature which protested 
against the aggressions of Parliament ? 

9. When did Plymouth protest ? 

10. What followed for the next thirty years? 



LESSON IX. 

COLONIAL, CONTINUED. 

1. What was the effect of the Navigation Laws after 

1651 ? 

2. Why? 

3. When were internal duties imposed for the first 

time? 

4. What was the result of these duties ? 

5. What did the British do to the manufactures ? 

6. When was direct taxation attempted? 

7. By what means ? 

8. What did the Stamp Act provide ? 

9. How did the Colonies feel and what did they do 
in regard to the Stamp Act ? 

10. What was the ultimate effect of these oppressive 

measures ? 

11. What was the object of the Colonies in the first 

year of the war ? 

12. What did the Colonies do when they found 
themselves unable to obtain a redress of grievances ? 



20 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON X. 

Chart.— Under the word "Candidates" beneath Party Diagram. 
Book.— Seepage 7. 

REVOLUTION — ORIGIN OF PARTIES DECLARATION — OLD 

WHIG PARTY. 

1. What gave rise to the Whig and Tory parties ? 

2. What was the line of difference between the 
parties during the first fifteen months of hostilities ? 

3. What were the points of difference between the 
Whigs and Tories ? 

4. What were the issues of the parties after the De- 
claration of Independence in 1776 ? 

5. By whom and when was the Declaration moved 
in Congress? 

6. Repeat his words. 

7. When was the Declaration adopted ? 

8. Of whom was the Whig party composed ? 

9. What were those called who took active part in 
the struggle ? 

10. When the war began what party assumed the 
control of affairs ? 



LESSON XI. 

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS — ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 

TORT PARTY. 

1. Of what was the Continental Congress composed ? 

2. Were the requirements of this Congress binding 
on the States ? 

3. How, then, was unity of action secured ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 

4. How did the Colonies attempt to establish a settled 
form, of government ? 

5. How many articles of confederation were there ? 

6. What were the powers of Congress as defined in 
' these articles ? 

7. What were the chief defects of the Articles of 
Confederation ? 

8. Who composed the Tory party ? 

9. By whom joined? 

10. By what other name were they known ? 

11. How did the Whigs attempt to punish the Tories ? 

12. What penalties were inflicted by the Legislatures 
of the States upon them ? 

13. What did the Tories do when the British troops 
were withdrawn ? 

14. To whom did the exiles appear for relief, and 
what relief did they receive ? 

RICHARD HENRY LEE 

Was a native of Virginia, a statesman of the highest 
order. He took an active part in the struggle for Inde- 
pendence, was a member of the House of Burgesses dur- 
ing the contest with the King and Parliament, and the 
right of taxation, the Navigation Laws, the Stamp Act, 
and other grievances and differences, which culminated 
in the revolution. 

On the 7th of June, 1776, he moved a declaration, in 
the Colonial Congress, in these words : " Resolved, That 
these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent States ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the State of Great Britain 
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 



22 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

This was before the formal Declaration written by 
Jefferson, and adopted on the 4th of July of the same 
year, was prepared. 

Lee was the Cicero of the House. His face was said 
to be of the Roman model, and his whole contour noble 
and fine. His taste had that delicate touch which seizes 
the beauty of thought and of language. He had the 
vox canora of him who thundered anathemas against 
Catiline in the Roman Senate, softened and enriched 
by a quiet yet acute sensibility and a fervid imagina- 
tion. His oratory was like the smooth flowing stream, 
charming to the ear, yet he could not unlock the strong 
and tender passions of the human soul like Patrick 
Henry, or the great American orator, Daniel Webster. 



GEORGE CLINTON. 

George Clinton was a native of New York, born in 
1738. He was an ardent advocate of the rights of the 
American Colonies, and took an active part in the war of 
the revolution. In 1768, when New York was a colony 
of Great Britain, he was elected to the Colonial As- 
sembly. In 1775 he represented New York in the Con- 
tinental Congress. 

In ] 777, he was appointed Brigadier-General. He was 
the first Governor of New York under a State Constitu- 
tion, holding the office from 1777 to 1795. He was re- 
elected in 1801, and held the office until 1804, when he 
was elected Vice-President of the United States, at the 
second election of Jefferson as President. He was re- 
elected Vice-President at the first election of Madison 
as President, and held the office until his death in 1812. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 

LESSON XII. 

Chart.— (See third column of first Vertical Section. 
Book. — Page 8. 

PARTICULARISTS STRONG-GOVERNMENT MEN WEAK- 
NESS OF THE CONFEDERATION — CONSTITUTION 
FORMED. 

1. The Whigs were composed of what classes ? Ans. 
Particularists and Strong-Government Men. 

2. What were the political views of the Particu- 
larists ? 

3. What drove them to these views ? 

4. State the political views of the Strong-Govern- 
ment Men. 

5. State, in brief, the weakness of the Confederation, 
and the effect- of that weakness upon foreign nations. 

6. What was the result of this disregard of law in 
Massachusetts ? 

7. What was the constant aim of the Strong-Gov- 
ernment Men ? 

8. What was done in 1786 ? 

9. What was recommended by Congress to sanction 
the report ? 

10. State what was done by the Convention which 
met at Philadelphia. 

GENERAL HENRY KNOX, 

The first Secretary of War, was one of the first to take 
up arms against the British. 

He was born in Boston, in 1750 ; was an active par- 
ticipant in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1776, when it 
was found that the patriot army was exceedingly defi- 



24 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

cient in cannon, Knox was sent out in quest of them. In 
less time than it was thought he could find a dozen, he 
brought in fifty cannon, mortars, and howitzers. He was 
appointed, in 1776, in command of the artillery, by 
Washington, and held that command through the war. 

He distinguished himself in the New Jersey campaign, 
repulsed Cornwallis at Assumpink, and shared in the 
brilliant action at Princeton. 

On the election of Washington to the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, Knox was appointed Secre- 
tary of War, which, at that time, included the control 
and management of the Navy. 

He died in 1806. 



LESSON XIII. 

FEDERAL AND ANTI-FEDERAL PARTIES. 

1. Who opposed the efforts to change the Articles of 
Confederation ? 

2. What were they called by their opponents, and 
why ? 

3. How long was this party in power ? 

4. Name the persons most prominent among the Anti- 
Federals. 

5. Why did they oppose the Strong-Government Men? 
, 6. What influenced certain persons of this party to 
change their views ? 

7. What fact increased the fears of the Anti-Federals? 

8. At what did the Anti-Federals become alarmed ? 

9. What led the Anti-Federals to become Close Con- 
structionists ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 

LESSON XIV. 

FEDERAL AND ANTI-FEDERAL TARTIES PROCEEDINGS 

UNDER THE CONSTITUTION FIRST PRESIDENT. 

1. What gave rise to the name of the Federal party ? 

2. What views were advocated, and when did the 
Federalists come into power first ? 

3. How were discussions and the ratification of the 
Constitution carried on ? 

4. What distinguished men were conspicuous in the 
Federal cause ? 

5. What essays appeared in the New York papers, 
and who were their authors ? 

6. What book composed of these essays has become 
classic in American political history ? 

7. What took place in 1788 in reference to the Con- 
stitution ? 

8. When and where did proceedings under the Con* 
stitution begin ? 

9. When was Washington inaugurated President ? 



26 ' HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION II, 



ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

1789—1797. 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
Washington was a native of Virginia, born February 
22, 1732, died December 14, 1799. 

His father died when George was in his tenth year, 
from which circumstance his early impressions were 
largely formed under the guiding direction of his 
mother, from whom he seems to have inherited many 
of the qualities of mind and heart that actuated his 

maturer years. 

His father was a man distinguished for integrity and 
firmness. His mother was a high-spirited woman, of 
uncommon strength of mind and decision of character, 
yet of great simplicity of manners. 

It is said her leading characteristics were strict 
punctuality in keeping her word, a high regard for all 
obligations of justice, a plain honest reality and truth 
peculiar to that age, without empty professions or a 
whitewash of outward polish. 

Washington was not born rich. His school learning 
embraced simply the ordinary branches of an English 
education. It exalts his character to know that, with 
these limited opportunities, he, by his own perseverance 
and application, supplied these deficiencies, so that when 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 

called upon to take the charge of the destinies of his 
country, he was found gloriously adequate to the task. 

For a time he was land surveyor for Lord Fairfax. 

In youth his habits and inclinations were decidedly 
military ; he took lessons in Manual Exercises from Ad- 
jutant Munn, and read with him many treatises on the 
art of war. He became an expert fencer under the 
instruction of Monsieur Braam, who was subsequently 
his interpreter in his interview with the French com- 
mander on the Ohio. 

At the age of 19 he was appointed Deputy-Adju- 
tant with the rank of Major of the Colonial State of 

Virginia. 

At the breaking out of the French and Indian war 
he volunteered his services to Governor Dinwiddie as 
envoy to St. Pierre, the French commander on the Ohio. 
The Governor, a sturdy Scotsman, addressed him thus : 

" Faith, you are a brave lad. I accept the tender. If 
you play your cards well, you shall have no cause to re- 
gret ycur bargain." 

Washington had a rough experience in making this 
tour, but it was bravely performed and successfully 
executed. On his return, having delivered his message 
to Governor Dinwiddie, he entered the House of Bur- 
gesses and took a seat in the gallery. At once the 
Speaker rose and moved that " The thanks of the House 
be given to Major Washington, who nov^ sits in the 
gallery, for the gallant manner in which he has executed 
the important trust lately reposed in him." 

Washington rose to reply, but his natural and un- 
conquerable embarrassment sealed his tongue, and he 
was unable to utter a word. The Speaker, discerning 
his modesty, paid him this memorable compliment : 



28 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

" Sit down, Major Washington. Your modesty is alone 
equal to your valor, and that surpasses any power of 
language." 

At the age of 20 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel 
under Colonel Fry. The latter soon after died and the 
command fell on Washington. 

In 1*?55 he joined the British forces who were en- 
gaged in the war with the French and hostile Indians. 
lie was in the battle in which General Braddock was 
killed, and was the only one of Braddock's aids who re- 
mained alive. Twice his horse was shot under him, and 
his own clothes were perforated with bullets. 

At 22, after Braddock's defeat and Darbey's de- 
sertion, Virginia raised an army for her own defence, 
and placed Washington in command. At the close of 
the French and Indian war he resigned his commission 
and retired to his home at Mount Vernon. 

At the age of 27, in 1759, he married Mrs. Martha 
Custis, the widow of John Park Custis. Mrs. Custis 
was born in the same year in which Washington was 
born. 

Washington was regular and systematic in all his do- 
mestic habits. His hours of rising; and retiring were 
the same throughout the year. He always shaved him- 
self, breakfasted at 7 in summer and at 8 in winter, 
dined at 2, drank his tea at an early hour in the even- 
ing, and never indulged in suppers. 

His height was upwards of 6 feet ; he was robust but 
symmetrical. In his manner he displayed a grave self- 
possession, and his movements were always graceful. 

He was at different times a member of the House of 
Burgesses of Virginia, and was a prominent member of 
the first Continental Congress. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 

On the 4th of June, 1775, he was unanimously chosen 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Colonies. 

His career during the Revolution is familiar to most 
persons. 

He was the soul that animated the war, the genius 
that directed it, its presiding spirit of valor, prudence, 
and decision. 

After the surrender of Cornwallis and the withdrawal 
of the British came one of the most trying occurrences 
of his life, and one most difficult to manage. An 
anonymous address had been made to the army, pub- 
lished and circulated among the soldiers and officers. 
This address pleaded the services and claims of tne 
soldiers and the cold neglect of Congress, and appointed 
a day for a meeting to take active measures in the case. 
It was expressed in strong terms, and appealed to the 
feelings of the soldiers. It proposed to court the 
auspices and invite the direction of their illustrious 
leader. If Congress refused to reward them they would 
retire to some unsettled wilderness, and then smile in 
their turn at Congress, and mock when its fear came. 

At no period had Washington been placed in a situa- 
tion to so test his sterling integrity and patriotism. 
Alexander, Ca3sar, Napoleon, would have seen a future 
throne from the standpoint of Washington. With tem- 
perate wisdom he took measures to counteract the 
effects of this inflammatory address, not by forbidding 
or opposing the meeting it recommended, but by issuing 
a general order for the same purpose. The time of the 
meeting, proposed by him preceded that of the anony- 
mous address. 

At the meeting, as Washington cast his eyes round on 
the war-worn band, poorly clad, many of them prema- 



30 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

turely old from fatigue and exposure, the fountains 
of his feeling heart were broken up, and his eyes were 
dimmed with tear drops. In one laconic sentence he ad- 
dressed them: "Soldiers of a people freed from 
tyranny by your own heroic deeds, I am growing old 
in my country's service and losing my sight, but I never 
doubted my country's justice or her gratitude." The 
call of the anonymous address was disregarded, and its 
influence scattered to the winds. 

In 1*783 the army was disbanded, and Washington 
took leave of his officers and repaired to Annapolis 
where Congress was in session, and resigned his com- 
mission. 

In 1784 he retired to Mount Vernon. 

In 1789 he was inaugurated first President of the 
United States, having been unanimously elected to that 

office. 

In 1793 he was inaugurated President of the United 
States the second time. In the same year he laid the 
corner stone of the Capitol at Washington, D. C, with 
civil, military, and Masonic honors. In 1796 he de- 
clined a renomination. In 1797, after delivering his 
farewell address, he retired to Mount Yernon, where he 
remained until his death in 1799. 



HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 



LESSOR I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

Examine the diagram at the top of the Chart or at the top of the folded 
plate in the back part of Conspectus, boolcform. Fix well in the mind the 
three departments of the Federal Government, with their subdivisions. 
Then answer the following questions : 

1. Who was the first President ? 

2. Who was the first Vice-President ? 

3. What political party was in power ? 

To answer, see diagram of Political Parties repre- 
sented by colored streams in the middle of the Chart, or 
the same diagram in first folded map of the Conspectus, 
book form. Compare color of the diagram representing 
the Administration with the same color in the diagram 
of Political Parties, and read the name of the party on 
the last-named diagram. 

4. When did Washington's administration begin ? 

5. When did it end ? 

6. Who was the first Secretary of State, and for 
what length of time ? 

For the answer find Department of State in the left 
hand square of the Inaugural diagrams, at the top of 
the Chart. In the book form, find the same at the top 
of the folded plate in the back part of the book. 

V. Name the other Secretaries of State during the> 
first administration. 

8. Who was the first Secretary of the Treasury ? 

9. Name the other two during this administration. 



32 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON II. 

1. Who were Secretaries of War during Washing- 
ton's administration ? 

2. Name the Postmasters General. 

3. Who were Attorneys General ? 

4. Who was the first Chief Justice of the United 
States Supreme Court, and for what length of time ? 

5. Who else were Chief Justices during Washing- 
ton's administration ? 

6. Name the Associate Justices during this adminis- 
tration. 

1. Who was Vice-President with Washington ? 
8. Who were the Speakers* of the House of Repre- 
sentatives during Washington's administration. 



LESSON III. 

See Diagram of Parties in the middle of the Chart. See the same dia-. 
gram, first folded plate in the took form. 

1. When did the Federal Party come into power? 

2. Name the two great parties at that time. 

3. When did the Anti-Federal party change its 
name, and to what ? 

4. What was the first bill advocated by the Federal- 
ists ? 

5. What did the financial policy as advocated by the 
Federals in 1790 include ? 

6. What were the chief issues of the Anti-Federals 
in 1789? 

* The House of Representatives elects one of its own members to pre- 
side over its deliberations. 

The presiding- officer is called the Speaker of the Home. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 

V. What foreign policy did the Federals advocate in 
1*793. 

8. What did the Democratic Republicans advocate ? 



LESSOR IV. 

FEDERALS ANTI-FEDERALS — HAMILTON AND JEFFERSON 

TARIFF BILL OF RIGHTS. 

1. What party was in power during the first admin- 
istration ? 

2. What was the first duty of the administration ? 

3. What is a noted feature in Washington's selection 
of his Cabinet, and what motive led to it ? 

4. Give the cause of the organization of the Anti- 
Federal party. 

5. What is said of Hamilton and Jefferson? 

6. When was the first tariff law r passed by Congress ? 

7. What was the object of the law? 

8. What is said of Hamilton's report ? 

9. Describe the Bill of Rights passed by the first 
Congress. 

10. Of how many articles did it consist, and how 
many were ratified ? 



LESSON V. 

STATE SOVEREIGNTY FINANCIAL POLICY — DEBTS — IN- 
TERNAL REVENUE MILITI4. 

1. State the principles of State Sovereignty as advo- 
cated by the Anti-Federal party. 

2. When did legislation begin, in accordance with 
whose policy, and what did it embrace ? 



34 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

3. What was the effect upon the political parties? 

4. What induced the Funding Act, and what did it 

provide ? 

5. What feature of the Act was strongly opposed? 

6. By what compromise was the bill passed ? 

7. What memorial did it elicit, and from what State ? 

8. On what did the excise law passed by the first 
Congress impose a tax ? 

9. State the manner in which the opposition to the 

law manifested itself. 

10. In 1794, how did the administration test the valty 

of the Constitution ? 

11. What was said by the Anti-Federals when the 

Militia were called out ? 

12. When was the first National Bank law passed? 

13. What members of the Cabinet pronounced it 

constitutional ? 

14. What members pronounced it unconstitutional? 

15. What were the arguments against its constitu- 
tionality ? 



LESSON VI. 

SLAVERY— DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN PARTY— ELECTION 
op 1792— FOREIGN POLICY OP FRANCE ENGLAND- 
ELECTION OP 1796— RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 

1. State the manner in which the subject of slavery 
was brought before Congress, and tell what was the 

result. 

2. When was the Fugitive Slave Law passed? 

3. State causes of a change of name of the Anti- 
Federal Party. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 

4. What gave rise to the term Democrat as applied 

to the party ? 

5.S tate the results of the election of 1792. 

6. What was the effect of the French Revolution on 
the political parties of the United States ? 

7. When was Washington's celebrated proclamation 

of neutrality issued ? 

8. What was the import of this proclamation ? 

9. State the opposition expressed by Jefferson and 

others. 

10. When and what was the next political disturb- 
ance occasioned by France ? 

11. State the disturbance with England in 1793 ; and 
how a reconciliation was effected. 

12. How did Washington regard this political con- 
test, and what positions did each political party take ? 

13. What is said of Washington's farewell address ? 

14. Who were the candidates for President in 1796, 
and with what result ? 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

Alexander Hamilton was a native of the Island of 
Nevis, in the West Indies, born January 11, 1757. His 
father was from Scotland, and his mother was of the 
Huguenot stock. In 1769 he became a counting-house 
clerk of Nicholas Cruger, a relative of his mother, living 
J at Santa Cruz . In 1772 he was sent to a grammar school 
'at Elizabeth, N. J. At the age of 16 years, in 1773, 
he entered King's College— now Columbia. This was 
at an eventful period of American history. The tocsin 
of the Revolution had been sounded. In his junior year 
in college he assisted the "Sons of Liberty" to carry 



36 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

off the British cannon from Fort George at the foot of 
Broadway. Soon after he entered the army as captain 
of an artillery company, and distinguished himself for 
bravery at the battles of White Plains, Trenton, and 
Princeton. He was chosen aid to Washington, with 
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, in 1777, and was Wash- 
ington's Chief Secretary to the end of the war. He led 
a corps of light infantry under Lafayette to the siege of 
Yorktown. He was admitted to the bar in 1782 ; was 
a member of the Convention that framed the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and was a member of the 
State Convention of New York that ratified that Con- 
stitution. He was Secretary of the Treasury under 
Washington, and soon brought order out of financial 
confusion. Hamilton was a pure-minded patriot, a 
brave soldier, an acute financier, and an accomplished 
statesman. 

JOHN JAY, 

The venerated American patriot and statesman, was the 
first Chief-Justice under the Constitution. He was a 
descendant of the Huguenots who fled to America to 
escape persecution. He was born in New York, 1745. 
He was educated in King's College, now Columbia; 
was admitted to the bar in 1768 ; was a member of 
the first Continental Congress, and made an appeal to 
the people of Great Britain, which Jefferson, ignorant 
of the authorship, pronounced the production of the 
finest pen in America. He was chosen to draft a State 
Constitution for New York in 1777. He was appointed 
Chief -Justice of New York in the same year; was elected 
to Congress under the Confederation, and chosen its 
President. He was appointed Minister to Spain in 1779, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



37 



with the design of obtaining the acknowledgment of 
the independence of the United States, form a treaty of 
alliance, and obtain a loan of money. In 1782 was one 
of the committee to negotiate peace with England. In 
1784, when the Constitution went into effect, was ap- 
pointed to the management of the Foreign Department. 
From 1796 to 1801 was Governor of New York. He 
was for many years President of the American Bible 
Society. Died in 1829, in his 84th year. 



Number of Troops from each of the old thirteen States, 
enlisted during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783, including 
Continental Soldiers and Militia. 

AMERICAN ALMANAC, BY AINSWORTH R. SPOFFORD. 

(BY PERMISSION.) 



STATE. 


l(7o. 


1 
1776. j 


1777. 
4,4S0 


177S. 


1779. 

1,226* 

1 


1780. 


1781. 

700 


1782. 
744 


1783. 


New Hampshire 


2,824 


4,019 | 


1 ^oo 
J,lOO 


1,777 


733 


Massachusetts . . 


16,444 


20,372 


12,591 


13,437 


7,738 


7,889 


5,29S 


4,423 


4,370 


Connecticut : 


4,507 


13,127 


6,563 


4,010 


3,544 


3,687 


3,921 


1,732 


1,740 


Rhode Island.... 


1,193 


1,900 


2,048 


3,056 


1,263 


915 


464 


481 


372 




2,075 


8,094 


5,332 


2,194 


3,756 


4,847 


1,178 


1,198 


1,169 






9,C86 2,908 


2,586 


1,276 


1,267 


823 


660 


676 


Pennsylvania — 


400 


10,395 


9,464 


3,684 


3,476 


3,337 


1,346 


1,265 


1,598 


Delaware 


e 


754 


1,299 


349 


317 


556 


89 


164 


235 


Maryland . 


• • • • . 


3,329 


7,567 


3,307 


2,849 


2,065 


2,107 


1,380 


974 




3,180 


6,181 


11,013 


7,830 


8,573 


6,986 


6,119 


2,204 


629 


North Carolina. . 


2,000 


4,134 


' 1,281 


1,287 


4,920 


3,000 


3,545 


1,105 


697 


South Carolina. . 


4,000 


6,069 


, 2,000 


3,650 


4,500 


6,000 


3,000 


2,000 


139 




1,000 
j 37,363 


2,301 

1 89,761 


' 2,173 


3,873 


837 


750 


750 


750 


145 




68,720 


51,046 

i 


j 44,275 


1 43,076 


29,34C 


18,006 


13,477 



38 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION III. 



ADMINISTRATION" OF JOHN ADAMS. 

1797—1801. 

John Adams was a native of Massachusetts, born in 
1735, died on the 4th of July, 1826. He was a graduate 
from Harvard University ; distinguished as a sound and 
judicious lawyer ; was one of the five delegates from 
Massachusetts to the first Congress, in which he elo- 
quently defended the Declaration of Independence and 
•advocated its adoption. In 1777 he was appointed Com- 
missioner to France ; was elected Vice-President of the 
United States in 1788, which office he held for two 
presidential terms, and was elected President in 1790, 
and held the office during one Presidential term. 



LESSON I. 

DEP AET M E 1ST T S. 

1. Give the date of the beginning and end of John 
Adams's administration ? 

2. Who was Vice-President ? 

3. Who were Secretaries of State ? 

4. Which one held over from Washington's adminis- 
tration ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 

5. Who were Secretaries of the Treasury ? 

6. Which one of these held over from Washington's 
administration ? 

7. Who were Secretaries of War ? 

8. Which one of these held over from the preceding 
administration ? 

9. Who were Secretaries of the Navy, and for what 

years ? 

10. Name the Postmaster-General, and for what 

length of time ? 

11. Name the Attorney-General, and tell the number 
of years he officiated ? 

12. Who was the Chief Justice ? 

13. Who were Associate Judges ? 

14. Who were Speakers of the House of Represent- 
atives ?* 

lesson n. 

PARTY ISSUES. 
See Diagram of Parties. 

1. What political party was in power during John 
Adams' administration? 

2. What laws were advocated by the party in 1798 ? 

3. Preparations were made for a war with what 
foreign power ? 

4. What issue was raised by the Republican party in 

1798? 

5. When were the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions 

passed ? 

6. What six constitutional principles were advocated 
and made an issue by the Republicans i n 1800 ? 

* The House of Representatives elects one of its own members to pre- 
side. The presiding officer is called the Speaker of the House. 



40 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



lesson in. 

ADAMS'S POSITION — PRANCE — STAMP ACT — WAR AGAINST 

FRANCE ARMY AND NAVY ALIEN AND SEDITION 

LAWS — NATURALIZATION KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA 

RESOLUTIONS. 

1. How did Adams, in his inaugural, soften the ardor 
of his opponents ? 

2. What was done by France to cripple our foreign 

trade ? 

3. What course was pursued by the President ? 

4. During this extra session of Congress what act 
was passed ? 

5. State further the relations of the country with 
France. What was authorized in 1798? 

6. What was its effect ? 

7. How were the enlargement of the army and navy 
regarded by the people ? 

8. What was the object of the Alien and Sedition 
Laws, and of the Naturalization Law ? 

9. Define each. 

10. What resolutions were occasioned by the Alien 
and Sedition Laws? 

11. In what does the importance of these resolutions 

lie ? 

12. Who were the authors of these resolutions ? 

13. What were the import and design of these resolu- 
tions ? 

14. What course did Virginia pursue ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 



LESSON IV. 

"RUPTURE OF THE CABINET — ELECTION OF 1800 — DEMO- 
CRATIC REPUBLICANS — DOWNFALL OF FEDERALISM. 

1. State the circumstances which led to a disrupture 
of John Adams's Cabinet. 

2. How many, and who, were Federal Presidential 
candidates in 1800 ? 

3. Who was instrumental in setting forth the defects 

of Adams ? How ? 

4. Was there any such division in the ranks of the 
Democratic Republican party ? 

5. Name the Federal candidates of 1800. 

6. Name the Republican candidates. 

V. What was there connected with the Republican 
Convention at that time new and calculated to interest 
the people? Ans. A Platform of Principles. This 
was the first platform of principles promulgated by any 
nominating convention. 

See Platforms of Political Parties, page ™ of the Hand-Book. 

8. State the number of Electors chosen, how many 
were Federalists, and how many Republicans. 

9. State how the Electors voted at that time, and state 
the result of the election. 

[ 10. State the political excitement during the Presi- 
dential campaign. 

11. State the causes that produced the downfall of 
the Federal Party. 

12. Did the principles of the party survive the party ? 



42 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION IV. 



ADMINISTRATION OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

1801—1809. 

The nation has quarried no stone for a monument to 
the memory of the Author of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. He needs none. He erected his own monu- 
ment, more enduring than can be cast in bronze or 
chiseled in marble. The immortal Declaration, con- 
ceived in his own mind, engrosse d with his own pen, 
is far more enduring than metallic casts or chiseled 
stone. Jefferson was born in Virginia, 1743; educated 
at William and Mary's College; began the practice of 
law m 176V; became a member of the Virginia Assembly 
in 1769; called to be a member of the Constitutional 
Congress in 1775; and was the youngest of the com- 
mittee appointed tcf prepare a declaration of principles 
of Independence. The Declaration was adopted by the 
Colonial Congress, July 4, 1776. He was elected Gover- 
nor of Virginia in 1779. He was sent to France in 1782 to 
assist the American Commissioners in their negotiations 
for peace with England ; again was sent to France as 
associate diplomatist with Franklin and Adams in 1784, 
and was minister to France in 1785. In 1789, on his 
return from France, before he reached his home, he re- 
rceived from Washington the appointment of Secretary 
of State. He was chosen Vice-President in 1796, and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 

President in 1800. Jefferson had auburn hair, ruddy 
complexion, and a tranquil, benevolent expression of 
countenance. He was tall, well formed, straight, and 
uncommonly strong. He was one of the best informed 
men of his day. All his habits and instincts were those 
of a close student and an acute observer. He died 
July 4, 1826, on the same day and nearly the same 
hour that the spirit of John Adams was liberated from 
its earthly tabernacle. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. When was Jefferson elected President, and how 
many terms did he hold the office ? 

2. Who was Vice-President during the first term? 
Who during the second term ? 

3. Name his Cabinet during the first term. During 
the second term. 

4. Name the Postmaster General. 

5. Name the Chief Justice. 

6. Name the Associate Judges. 

7. Who were Speakers of the House, and for what 
time ? 



LESSON II. 

IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

1. What war was declared in 1801 ? 

2. What was the number of representatives in 1802 ? 

3. What extraordinary power was given to the 
President by Congress in 1803 ? 



44 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

4. In 1806, what was forbidden by Congress, and 
what were subjects of disputes with . England and 
France ? 

5. State the conspiracy of Aaron Burr, and when was 
it attempted. 

Again examine middle of the Chart — Political diagram. In the book 
form, see folded plate at the beginning of the book. Observe the two colored 
streams. From 1789 to 1801, the pink curve (Federal) is above. This 
indicates that the Federal Party was in power. 1800, the green stream 
(Democratic Bepublican) passes over and above the pink. This shows that 
the Democratic Bepublican Party came into power. 

6. What act was advocated by the Republicans in 
1807? 

7. What in 1809? 

8. What was strongly opposed by the Federalists in 
1803 ? 



LESSON" III. 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES AND TRACK 

REPUBLICAN WENT INTO DISUSE CHURCH AND STATE 

NATURALIZATION SLAVES IN INDIANA — PURCHASE 

OP LOUISIANA. 

1. State the substance of Jefferson's policy as set 
forth in his inaugural address. 

2. State the circumstances which favored Jefferson's 
endeavors to put the government on its Republican 
track. 

3. What is said of the name Democrat ? 

4. What was the fate of the endeavors to effect a 
union of Church and State ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 

5. What Naturalization Law was modified, and what 
were the provisions of that law ? 

6. What attempts were made to introduce limited 
slavery into Indiana, and with what result ? 

7. What was the origin of the desire to purchase 
Louisiana ? | 

8. State, in brief, the arguments advanced in favor of 
the purchase, and those in opposition to it. 

9. Which party advocated the purchase? Which 
opposed it ? 



LESSOR IV. 

SECESSION PLANNED — BITE RITES — ELECTION OF 1804 

EilBARGO NON-INTERCOTJESE ELECTION OF 180S 

REPUBLICANISM TESTED. 

1. By whom was the secession of the Northern States 
suggested, and for what reasons ? 

2. On what was their hope of success based ? Who 
opposed the plan ? 

3. What produced a division of the Republican 
ranks ? 

4. How were the Presidential candidates chosen in 
1804, and what was Jefferson's majority in the Electoral 
vote ? 

5. When was the Embargo Act passed, and what was 
the origin of it ? 

6. When was it repealed, and why ? 

1. On its repeal what did the administration resolve 
to resume ? 



46 



HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



8. State the substance of the Non-Intercourse Act. 

9. State what is said of the Election of 1808. 

10. Who was elected President ? 

11. What is said of Jefferson's exemplification of the 
Republican platform? 

12. What was the character of his administration, and 
its influence upon the sentiments of the people ? 



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HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 



SECTION V. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 

1809—1817. 

From the summit of a peak in the Blue Ridge Moun- 
tains, in Virginia, may be seen the former homes of 
three Presidents of the United States whose careers 
commenced in Revolutionary times: Thomas Jefferson, 
James Madison, and James Monroe. 

Madison, the subject of this brief sketch, was born 
on the banks of the Rappahannock. He entered 
Princeton College in the spring of 1773, but before he 
graduated, owing to impaired health, he left college. 

After a short rest he commenced the study of law, 
but was soon diverted to public employments. 

In 1776 he was chosen a member of the Convention 
that framed the first Constitution of Virginia. In the 
same year he was elected to the State Legislature. He 
was a member of the Convention that framed the Con- 
stitution of the United States, and was the chief instru- 
ment in procuring its ratification by the Legislature of 
Virginia. He was one of the first Representatives of 
Virginia in the Federal Congress ; was Secretary of 
State under Jefferson ; elected President in 1808 ; and 
re-elected in 1812. He died in June, 1836, at the age of 
85 years. 



48 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

POLITICAL EXCITEMENT — CLAY AND CALHOUN. 

During the administration of James Madison, the pre- 
vailing political excitement of the country was the pros- 
pect of a war with England. The Federalists opposed 
the war, while the Anti-Federalists, or Republicans, be- 
lieved that our only way to improve the sanitary con- 
dition of England was to give her a heavy dose of blue 
pills dug from the lead mines of America. 

Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun were prominent 
leaders of the so-called War Party. The former of 
these gentlemen, 

HENRY CLAY, 

was a native of Virginia, born in 1777. In early life he 
was copyist in the office of the Clerk of the Court of 
Chancery. At the age of 19 he commenced the study 
of law ; was admitted to practice at the age of 20, and 
admitted to the Kentucky Bar at Lexington, whence he 
had removed, at the age of 22. He was Anti-Slavery in 
his sentiments, and worked hard to elect delegates to 
the Convention for revising the Constitution of Ken- 
tucky, who would favor a clause emancipating the 
slaves. In 1803 he was elected to the Legislature of 
Kentucky. In 1806, and again in 1809, was chosen to 
the United States Senate to fill vacancies. In 1811 he 
was elected United States Representative, and, upon the 
organization of the House, was chosen Speaker. In 
1814 he was appointed one of the Commissioners to nego- 
tiate a treaty with Great Britain. He was Secretary of 
State under John Quincy Adams. He was United States 
Senator from Kentucky from 1831 to the close of his 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

life He was the Republican candidate for President in 
1832, and the candidate of the Whigs for President in 

1844. 

He died at Washington, June 29, 1852. 

JOHN C. CALHOUN 

was a native of South Carolina, born in 1782. He was 
educated at Yale College, and graduated from that in- 
stitution in 1804. He studied law at Litchfield, Con- 
necticut, and on admission to the bar, commenced prac- 
tice in his native district. 

He was soon after elected a member of the Legisla- 
ture of his State. In 1811 he was elected Representative 
in the Congress of the United States, and was made 
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. He 
advocated the war of 1812, internal improvements, the 
establishment of a United States Bank, and the pro- 
tective tariff of 1816. 

In 1817 he was appointed Secretary of War. He 
was Vice-President of the United States, in John 
Quincy Adams's administration, and again Vice-Presi- 
dent during the first term of Jackson's administration. 
He resigned in 1832, and was soon after elected to fill a 
vacancy in the United States Senate. He continued to 
represent South Carolina in the United States Senate 
until 1843, when he declined a re-election. In 1844 he 
was appointed Secretary of State by John Tyler. In 
1845 he returned, by the choice of his State, to the 
Senate of the United States, where he remained until 
his death in 1850. 

Calhoun advocated nullification, and was supposed to 
be the author of it ; he was a strong advocate of slavery. 



50 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

He was thought to be the author of the scheme to an- 
nex Texas. He, however, opposed the Mexican War. 
His powers of oratory consisted in the plainness of his 
propositions, the closeness of his logic, and the earnest- 
ness and energy of his manner. 



LESSON I. 

DIP ARTMENTS, 

1. What was the length of Madison's administration ? 

2. Who were the Yice-Presidents during this admin- 
istration ? 

3. Name the Cabinet officers of Madison's administra- 
tion. 

4. What Cabinet officers under Jefferson were re- 
appointed by Madison ? 

5. What one held his office for thirteen years ? ' 

6. Which officer held his office during the entire term 
of both administrations ? 

7. What office did he hold ? 

8. ' How long was John Marshall Chief Justice ? 
9. What proclamation was issued in 1809 ? 

10. When was the ratio of representation fixed at 
35,000 ? 

11. What issue and what loan were authorized in 
1813? 

12. What loan in 1814? 

13. What issue and loan in 1815 ? 

14. When was the first protective tariff enacted ? 

15. When was the second United States Bank 
chartered ? For how long ? With what capital ? 

4 



HISTOHY OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 

LESSON II. 

PARTY ISSUES. 
See Diagram. 

1. "What act was advocated by the Democratic 
Republicans in 1809? 

2. What act was opposed by the Republicans in 1811? 

3. For what act, opposed by the Federals of 1812, were 
the Republicans held responsible ? 

4. What act, recommended by the President and 
passed by Congress, was opposed by the Federals in 

1816? 

5. In the same year what act was passed by Congress, 
advocated by Republicans, and opposed by the Federals? 

6. State the issues of 1812 which gave rise to the 
Clintonian Party ? 

7. What subjects were advocated by the Hartford 
Convention ? 

8. What was Madison's Electoral vote at his first 
election ? What at his second ? 



LESSON III. 

MADISON'S POLICY DIPLOMACY NATIONAL BANK THIRD 

EMBARGO ELECTION, 1812 CLINTONIANS WAR OF 

1812. 

1. What is said of Madison's policy ? 

2. What controversy came down from the preceding 
administration ? 

3. What British order was adhered to, and what was 
authorized by France ? 



52 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

4. Give an account of the treaty concluded with the 
British Minister, and what was done with it. 

5. What proposals were made to England and France 
in 1810? 

6. What was done toward rechartering the National 
Bank? 

7. When was the third Embargo Act passed, and for* 
what length of time ? 

8. Give an account of the political issues of 1812. 

9. Give an account of the origin and course pursued 
by the Clintonians. 

10. State the causes of the war of 1812. 

11. When was the war declared, and what sections of 
the country favored it ? What sections opposed it ? 

12. State the efforts made to secure peace with Great 
Britain, and when was the treaty of peace signed? 



LESSON IV. 

FEDERAL OPPOSITION TO THE WAP PEACE PARTY — ; 

BLUE LIGHT TELEGRAPH — HARTFORD CONVENTION 

DEATH OF THE FEDERAL PARTY NATIONAL BANK 

PROTECTIVE TARIFF ELECTION OF 1816. 

1. State briefly the Federal opposition to the war. 

2. What was the object of the Peace Party, pro- 
fessedly ? What its ulterior purpose ? 

3. How were the ships of the enemy informed when 
American vessels put to sea ? 

4. Give an account of the Hartford Convention. 

5. Give an account of the death of the Federal Party. 



HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 



53 



6. Give a statement of the National Bank charter 

of 1810. 

7. What was especially urged upon Congress in 
Madison's seventh Annual Message ? 

8. Were his recommendations heeded by Congress ? 
What political party opposed, and what favored the 
bill ? 

9. State the method of the Republicans to strengthen 

their position. • 

10. Who defended the measure ? Who opposed it ? 

11. State the opposition to caucus nominations in 181 G. 

12. Who were nominated by the Republicans ? Who 
by the Clintonians, and a remnant of the Federals ? 

13. State the opposition to the nomination of Monroe. 
What was his majority of the Electoral votes ? 



POST OFFICE I 


STATISTICS AT DECADES FROM 1790 TO 1870. 


American Almanac, by Ainsworth R. Spofford. 


(By permission.) 


m 

• 
CD 




■ 
OQ 

o 
o 

& 

O 

+3 

00 

O 

6 


Extent of Post 
Routes in Miles. 


Revenue of the 
Department. 


Expenditure of 
Department. 


.2 2 
u o 

■a § 

m a 

— -1-9 

§£ 

a «h 

< o 

$8,198 


Cost of Mail 
Transportation. 


1790 


75 


1,875 


$37,935 


$32,140 


$22,081 


1800 


903 


20,817 


280,804 


213,994 


69,243 


128,640 


1810 


2,300 


36,406 


551,6S4 


495,969 


149,438 


327,966 


1S20 


4,500 


72,492 


1,111,927 


1,160,926 


352,295 


782,425 


1830 


8,450 


115,176 


1,850,583 


1,932,708 


595,234 


1,274,000 


1840 


13,468 


155,739 


4,453,522 


4,718,236 


1,028,925 


3,296,876 


1850 


18,417 


178,673 


5,552,971 


5,912,953 


1,549,376 


2,965,786 


1860 


28,498 


240,594 


8,518,067 


19,170,610 


2,552,868 


8,808,710 


1870 


2S,492 


231,232 


19,772,221 


23,998,837 


4,673,466 


10,884,653 



54 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION VI. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MONROE. 

• 1817—1825. 

James Monroe was a native of Virginia, born in 1758. 
He was educated at William and Mary's College. On 
leaving college he hastened to the headquarters of 
Washington at New York, and enrolled himself to 
defend the liberties of his country. He tasted of war at 
Harlem and White Plains, and accompanied Washington 
in his return across New Jersey. Having been appointed 
Lieutenant, he was in the van of the battle at Trenton 
and was severely wounded. For his gallant service he 
was promoted to captaincy. 

He was aid to Lord Sterling during the campaign of 
1777 and 1779. 

He was elected to the Virginia Legislature in 1782; 
elected to the General Congress in 1783; and in 1785 
w^as leader of the movement which led to the Constitu- 
tional Convention. Although after the Constitution 
was framed, he, with Patrick Henry and others, opposed 
its ratification, yet he was one of the first to represent 
Virginia in the Federal Congress. He was sent as 
minister to the French Court in 1794; elected Governor 
of Virginia in 1798; and in 1801 was appointed Envoy 
Extraordinary to act with M. Livingston at the Court 
of Napoleon. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 55 

He was re-elected Governor of Virginia in 1811, but 
resigned to accept the appointment of Secretary of State 

under Madison. 

In 1816, he was elected President, and re-elected in 
1820. Monroe was a man of plain, unaffected manners 
and unquestioned purity and honesty. Though not 
brilliant as a public officer, he possessed robust and use- 
ful qualities, so blended with the elements of human 
kindness and a love of country that he was beloved by 
all classes and all parties. He died on the 4th of July, 
1831. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. What was the length of Monroe's administration ? 

2. Who was Vice-President ? 

3. Name Monroe's Cabinet during his first term. 

4. What Cabinet officers held their offices during the 
entire administration ? 

5. Who was Postmaster General ? 

6. Who were Associate Judges during this adminis- 
tration ? 

7. When was internal tax abolished ? 

8. What rearrangement of the national flag was made 

in 1818? 

9. When was the ratio of representation fixed at 

40,000 ? 

10. When was the independence of South American 

republics acknowledged ? 



56 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON II. 

ISSUES ADVOCATED ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 

See Diagram of Political Parties in Monroe's Administration. 

1. What issue was advocated in 1817 ? 

2. Who was Vice-President ? 

3. When was Florida purchased ? " 

4. When was the Missouri compromise passed ? 

5. When was the Monroe Doctrine announced ? 

6. What old political issues ceased at the beginning 
of Monroe's administration ? 

7. What doctrines did Monroe adopt ? 

8. Who were leaders of the new school Republicans ? 

9. What was the effect of the election of 1816 upon 
the Clintonian faction ? 

10. What added to the political peace during this 
administration ? 

11. By whafr designation is the whole of Monroe's 
administration known ? 



LESSON III. 

jackson's advice — internal improvements — Florida 
cession missouri question. 

1. What did General Jackson advise? 

2. What view did Monroe take ? 

3. State the substance of Monroe's Inaugural on the 
subject of internal improvements, and the discussions 
in the Fifteenth Congress on that subject. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 

4. "What did the treaty ceding Florida to the United 
States provide ? And what were the objections ? Was 
the treaty ratified ? 

5. What was the Missouri compromise ? 

6. State the arguments in the debates, both for and 
against the proviso. 

7. On what terms was Missouri admitted ? 

8. When was the bill passed to admit Missouri ? 

9. State the last struggle on the Missouri question ? 
When did it become a State ? 



LESSON IV. 

ELECTION OF 1820 REPUBLICANS UNOPPOSED THE 

MONROE DOCTRINE — PROTECTIVE TARIFF DEMOCRATIC 

ELECTION OF 1824 — PEOPLE'S PARTY MONROE'S RE- 
TIREMENT. 

1. State the substance of the course pursued in the 
election of 1820, and the results of the Presidential 
election ? 

2. Give the status of political parties at the beginning 
of this administration ? 

3. Give the language of the Monroe Doctrine as 
announced in his Message of 1823. 

4. What called out the Doctrine ? What was the 
final result ? 

5. State the arguments advanced in favor of the 
Protective Tariff Bill passed by the Eighteenth Congress, 
and state who was the champion of the system, and who 
of the opposition. 



58 'HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

6. What is said of the term Democratic ? 

7. Who were Presidential nominees in 1824, and how 
were they nominated? 

8. Why was Crawford's nomination unpopular ? 
What of the canvass ? 

9. What was the result of the election ? 

10. Whom did the House of Representatives elect as 
Chief Magistrate ? 

12. Give the origin of the People's Party. 

13. Give a summary of the work of Monroe's admin- 
istration. 



THE STANDARD SILVER DOLLAR 

The balance of exchanges in the precious metals, which had 
heen steadily against the United States ever since 18G1, was 
changed during 1879-1880. The imports of gold and silver coin 
and bullion from July 1, 1879, to July 1, 1880, amounted to 
$75,891,391. 

The standard silver dollar was authorized to be coined by an 
Act of Congress passed April 2, 1792. The weight was fixed at 
416 grains, standard silver; fineness 892 - 4; equivalent to 3713^ 
grains of fine silver, with 4A% grains alloy of pure copper. 

The weight was changed by the Act of January 18, 1837, to 
412}^ grains, and fineness changed to 900, preserving the same 
amount of pure silver, viz., 3713^, with one-tenth alloy of pure 
copper. 

The coinage was discontinued by the Act of Feb. 12, 1873. 
Total amount coined from 1792 to 1873 was $8,045,838. By the 
Act of Feb. 28, 1878, the coinage was revised, and $2,000,000 was 
required to be coined. 

Between Feb. 28, 1878, and Dec. 1, 1880, $75,147,750 was 
coined. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 



SECTION VII. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

1825 — 1829. 

John Quincy Adams was a native of Massachusetts, 
son of the second President of the United States, himself 
the sixth President. He was born in 1767. Much of 
his boyhood was spent in Europe. At the age of four- 
teen he was sent to the University of Leyden, where he 
remained about three years. Returning home at the age 
of seventeen, he entered Harvard University and gradu- 
ated in 1788. 

In 1791 he was admitted to the bar. 
From 1794 to 1797 he was Minister to Hague. From 
1797 to 1801 he was Minister to Berlin. 

In 1802 he was elected to the Senate of Massachusetts. 
In 1803 he was chosen United States Senator. He acted 
with the Federalists for four years, but on the question 
of the Embargo, introduced by Jefferson, he separated 
from the Federalists, and in 1808 resigned his seat. 

He was for a few years Professor of Rhetoric in 
Harvard University. In 1809 he was appointed Minister 
to Russia. In 1814 he was appointed one of the com- 
missioners to negotiate the treaty of peace with Great 
Britain. 

From 1815 to 1817 he was Minister to England. 



60 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

From 1817 to 1825 he was Secretary of State. 
In 1824, Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and Clay, all 
Democratic Republicans, were nominated as candidates 
for President. Adams received 84 electoral votes, Jack- 
son 99, Crawford 41, and Clay 31. 

Neither of the candidates having received the requi- 
site number of Electoral votes, it devolved upon the 
House of Representatives to make choice of the Presi- 
dent from the three highest on the list. On the 9th of 
February, 1825, the Representatives took their seats 
by States as their names were called. The Senate 
came in after the Representatives were seated, and 
occupied seats prepared and reserved for them. The 
Vice-President presided, occupying the chair of the 
Speaker of the House. 

It was known that the members from New York were 
divided, and it was doubtful how the State would vote. 
Louisiana was also divided. Of her three Representa- 
tives one was in favor of Jackson, one of Crawford, and 
the third was willing to accept the candidate on which 
the other two could agree. Henry Clay by his influence 
controlled the vote of Kentucky. Clay, a few days 
before, visited Crawford, who was suffering from a 
paralytic stroke, and was persuaded that he was not 
able to perform the duties of President if elected. Clay 
was not a Jackson man, as seen in his manner of arraign- 
ing Jackson's conduct of the Seminole campaign, hence 
it was but reasonable to expect that he would give his 
influence to Adams. At that time the Union consisted 
of twenty-four States. On the first ballot Adams 
received the votes of thirteen States, and Jackson of 
eleven. Adams was declared elected, and served one 
term of four years. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 

Subsequently he was elected United States Represent- 
ative from Massachusetts, and served seventeen suc- 
cessive years. He died at Washington in 1849. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. State the date of the beginning and end of the 
administration. 

2. Name the Cabinet. 

3. What Cabinet officer of this administration held 
the same office during the entire administration of 
Monroe ? 

4. What two held their respective offices during this 
and the last term of Monroe's administration ? 

5. Who was Vice-President ? 

6. Which Cabinet officer was Speaker of the House 
during the last term of Monroe's administration. 

7. What sad providential event took place on the 
■fifteenth anniversary of American Independence ? 

8. What were the issues advocated in 1825 and 1826 ? 

See diagram of Parties. 

9. What in 1828, causing a division of the party? 



62 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON II. 

PRESIDENT'S POLICY — OPPOSITION — PANAMA MISSION 

GEORGIA CONTROVERSY DIVISION OF REPUBLICAN 

PARTY — TARIFF OF 1828. 

1. State the President's policy. 

2. What was the effect of his attempted conciliatory 
course in the appointment of subordinate officers ? 

3. How did the opposition show itself in the Nine- 
teenth and Twentieth Congresses ? 

4. State the object of the Panama Mission. 

5. What discussion did the bill authorizing the mission 

introduce ? 

6. State the substance of the controversy with 

Georgia. 

7. What is said of the disaffection in the Republican 

ranks? 

8. What were the duties imposed by the tariff of 

1824? 

9. What was the effect of the attempt to amend the 

tariff in 1828 ? 



LESSON III. 

ELECTION OF 1828 ANTI-MASONIC PARTY DEMOCRATIC 

PARTY NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY OTHER MEA' 

SURES. 

1. When did the canvass for the Presidential election 

of 1832 begin? 

2. Who were the candidates, and how nominated ? 

3. State the origin of the Anti-Masonic Party, and 
what was the object of the party. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 

4. Give the origin of the modern Democratic Party. 

5. What was claimed by this party organization ? 

6. "What name was assumed by the adherents of 

Adams ? 

1. What was claimed in regard to the political faith 

of the National Republican Party ? 

8. What other measures were attempted ? 



CONGRESS. 
A Congress embraces two years, and consists of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives. 

Officebs of Congress. 
The officers of Congress are Librarian of Congress and Pub- 
lic Printer. __ 

SENATE. 

Senators are elected for six years, one-third of the Senate 
retiring on the 4th of March each alternate year. The salary of 
a Senator is $5,000 per annum. In addition he is allowed 20 
cents per mile for travel each way at each annual session, and 
$125 per annum for stationery and newspapers. 

Officers of Senate. 
The principal officers of the Senate are President, Chaplain, 
Secretary, Chief Clerk, Principal Executive Clerk, Principal 
Legislative Clerk, Sergeant-at- Arms, Postmaster, Superintendent 
of Folding Room, and Superintendent of Document Room. 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
A Representative is elected for two years. He has the same 
salary and the same allowances as a Senator. 

Officers of Hot/se of Representatives. 
The principal officers of the House are Speaker, Chaplain, 
Clerk of the House, Chief Clerk, Librarian, Superintendent of 
Upper Document Room, Sergeant-at- Arms, Doorkeeper, Super- 
intendent of Folding Room, Superintendent of Lower Document 
Room, Postmaster, and Stenographer. 



64 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION VIIL 



ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON. 

1829—1837. 

* 

« 

" Ask nothing but what is right, submit to nothing 
wrong," was Jackson's political maxim. He was born 
in North Carolina in 1767 ; joined the patriot army at 
the age of fourteen, which he was influenced to do by 
the massacre of Ruford's regiment at Wereham, South 
Carolina, by the fiery Tarlton. He studied law, and 
was admitted to practice in 1786. Soon after he was 
appointed Solicitor of West Tennessee, where he led the 
somewhat romantic career of attorney, judge, legis- 
lator, and military commander. In 1790 assisted to 
form the State Constitution of Tennessee, and was 
elected the first representative in Congress from that 
State. He was elected United States Senator in 1797, 
and soon after appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Tennessee. He entered the army in 1813, and was made 
Major-General in 1814. Engaged in a successful cam- 
paign against the Indians in 1818 ; appointed Governor 
of Florida by Monroe in 1821 ; elected President in 
1828, and re-elected in 1832. Energy was a prominent 
trait of his character. After his second Presidential 
term he retired to his home near Nashville, and died 
Sunday, the 8th of June, 1836. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. - 05 

LESSON I. 

DEPART 3IENT S. 

1. State the length of Jackson's administration. 

2. When was Jackson inaugurated President ? 

3. Name his Cabinet during his first term of office. 

4. Name the Cabinet during his second term. 

5. Who was Chief Justice during his administration? 

6. When was Roger B. Taney appointed Chief Justice? 

7. Who were the Associate Judges ? 

8. Who was Vice-President during Jackson's first 
term ? 

9. Who during his 'second term ? 

10. What addition was made to the President's Cab- 
inet at the beginning of his administration ? 



LESSON II. 

ISSUES OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES. 

* See colored streams representing Political Parties. 

1. What were the issues of the parties in 1829 ? 

2. What was the issue of the Democratic Party in 
1832? 

3. What were the issues of the National Republicans 
in 1832 ? 

4. What of the Democrats in 1833 ? 

5. What of the National Republicans? 

6. What of the Democrats in 1834 ? « 

7. What in 1835 ? 

8. What in 1836? 

9. What was Jackson's Electoral vote? What his 
popular vote ? 



QQ HAND-BOOK 0"F POLITICAL 

LESSON in. 

jackson's inaugural — bank removals — websteb- 

hayne debate. 

1. What was Jackson's policy as indicated in his In^ 

augural ? 

2. The constitutionality of what act was questioned 

by the President ? 

3. What removals were made, and what was Jack- 
son's reasons for doing it ? 

4. What was thought of this proscription policy ? 

5. State the substance of the debate by Hayne, of 
South Carolina, called out by the introduction of Mr. 
Foot's resolution in 1829. 

6. Who replied ? What did he deny, and what did 
his arguments favor? What title did this debate win 
for Webster ? 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 

A Southern member of Congress, in 1813, said of 
Daniel Webster : " The North has not his equal, nor 
the South his superior." 

Webster was a native of New Hampshire, born in 
1782. He was educated at Dartmouth College, which 
he entered at the age of fifteen. During his college 
course he showed no special promise of future great- 
ness. 

There is a reason for this aside from the fact that his 
mind may have matured slowly. He was too young to 
show extraordinary power in grappling with the intricate 



HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 

branches of a college curriculum. He was associated 
with older minds, the fibers of whose brain had had 
time to harden, and in class comparisons his age would 
not come in as a consideration. 

lie was admitted to the bar in 1805, at the age of 
twenty-three. He was elected United States Represent- 
ative from New Hampshire in 1812, and in June, 1813, 
made his first speech. He was re-elected in 1814. 

In 1821 he assisted in revising the Constitution of 
Massachusetts, to which State he had previously re- 
moved. 

In 1822 he was elected United States Representative 
from Boston ; re-elected in 1S24 ; chosen to the United 
States Senate from Massachusetts in 1820, in which 
body he held a front rank for twelve years. 
• He was Secretary of State under Harrison, and also 
under Fillmore. His great speech for the Union was 
made in 1850. 

Webster was one of the first, if not the first forensic 
speaker of his generation. He had a profound know- 
ledge of the law, and in his pleas was able to control 
a jury as no other attorney could control them. In his 
leo-al practice, he made it a principle not to be retained 
in a suit unless he could see justice or equity on 
the side he was engaged to defend. This principle, con- 
nected with his mental ability and legal acumen, placed 
him at the head of his profession. He died October 24, 
1852. 



68 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



LESSON IV. 

JACKSON AND CALHOUN— NULLIFICATION PARTY— LAND 
PROCEEDS— VICTORS AND THE SPOILS INTERNAL IM- 
PROVEMENTS—ATTEMPT TO RECHARTER THE NA- 
TIONAL BANK. 

1. What course did Calhoun pursue with the hope of 
becoming Jackson's successor ? 

2. What was the result of his course ? 

3. What was the origin of the Nullification Party ? 

4. What attempt was made concerning the proceeds 
from the sale of public lands in 1832 ? 

5. What bill originating in the Senate became a law 

during the same year ? 

6. What sentiment originating with William L. 
Marcy in 1832, became a maxim of the Democratic 

Party ? 

1. What course did the National Republicans pursue 

concerning it ? 

8. What was done with the Internal Improvement 

bill? 

9. What was the fate of the Harbor bill ? 

10. What was one of the leading issues of the Na- 
tional Republican and Whig parties at that time ? 

11. What became of the bill for rechartering the Na- 
tional Bank? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 

LESSON V. 

TARIFF OF 1832 ELECTION OF 1832. 

1. What did the tariff of 1832 provide ? 

2. What opposition did it meet with? ♦ 

3. When, where, and by what party was the first 
National Convention held ? 

4. When and where did the party meet to nominate 
Presidential candidates ? 

5. Whom did they nominate ? 

6. When and where did the National Republicans 
hold a National Convention ? Who were the nominees ? 

7. When did the party adopt its first platform ? 

8. State the important -points in that platform. 

9. When and where did the Democrats hold their 
Convention ? Who were chosen candidates ? 

10. State the origin of the " two-thirds rule." With 
what party did it originate ? 

11. Who were the Nullification candidates, and how 
chosen ? 

12. Who were elected, and by what majority of 
Electoral votes ? 



LESSON VI. 

ANTI- SLAVERY SOCIETY NULLIFICATION ORDINANCE 

TARIFF OF 1833 REMOYAL OF DEPOSITS STATE 

BANKS SUB-TREASURY. 

1. When, and with what object in view, was the 
Anti-Slavery Society formed ? 

2. After the Tariff Bill of 1832 was passed, what 
course did the Congressmen from South Carolina pursue ? 



70 - [HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

3. State the course pursued by a convention of the 
people of South Carolina. 

4. What was the course of President Jackson relative 
to the edicts of this convention ? 

5. State the effect of this proclamation on the people 
at large, and upon South Carolina. 

6. Describe the Tariff of 1833. 

7. State the course pursued by the President to re- 
move the deposits, how it was accomplished, and what 
was the effect of the course upon the President's politi- 
cal opponents. 

8. What party favored, and what party opposed 
placing the deposits in State Banks ? 

9. What did the Whigs and those opposing the ad- 
ministration advocate as a substitute for State Banks ? 



LESSOR VII. 

THE WHIG PARTY LOCOFOCOS ANTI-SLAVERY MAIL — ' 

TEXAS^-RIGHT OF PETITION SPECIAL CIRCULAR — 

ELECTION OF 1836. 

1. State the political excitement caused by the re- 
moval of the deposits. 

2. Of whom was the Whig Party composed ? 

3. What party was organized in 1835 ? 

4. State the proceedings of the first meeting, and 
what circumstance gave the party the name Locofocos. 

5. What course was pursued by the President in 
1835 relative to the mails ? 

6. What occurred in 1836 relative to Texas? Who 
opposed the measure ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 

7. What occurred in 1836 relative to the Right of 
Petition ? 

8. What was done to prevent the accumulation of 
paper money ? 

9. What was done in 1835 respecting the "two- 
thirds rule " ? { 

10. Whom did the Democrats nominate? What 
was done by the Locofocos in 1836 ? 

11. Who were nominated by the Whigs? What re- 
solutions were adopted ? 

12. What was done by the Anti-Masons ? 

13. Who else were nominated ? 
J 4. Who were elected ? 



ANTIQUITY OF AMERICA. 

Geology reveals the fact that America precedes Europe in 
rising above the primeval seas. America is, therefore, in reality, 
the 'Old World." 

In the Museum of Rio Janeiro are brass tablets covered with 
Phoenician inscriptions which were found in Brazil. These in- 
scriptions show that tlie Phoenicians were in America 500 years 

b. a 

Near Montevideo.. South America, there was found a flat stone; 
beneath the stone was a vault, in which were found two swords, 
a shield, and a hemlet. On the stone was the following inscrip- 
tion in Greek characters: "During- the dominion of Alexander, 
the son of Philip, King of Macedon, in the Sixty -third Olympiad. " 
On the hehnet Achilles is represented as dragging the body of 
Hector round the walls of Troy. On the handle of one of the 
swords is a portrait of Alexander. These records indicate that 
the Greeks were in America between 300 and 400 years B. C. 

Chinese official annals affirm that Hoel Shin, a Chinese priest, 
visited America A.D. 500. 

Irish records claim that the Irish were in America A.D. 800.— 
See Houghton's CMrt of U. S. History. 



72 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION IX. 



ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN YAN BUREN. 

1837 — 1841. 

Martin Van Buren was a native of New York, born 
in 1782. He was educated at the Academy of Kinder- 
hook, and commenced the study of law at the age of 
thirteen. He was admitted to the bar at the age of , 
twenty-one, appointed Surrogate of Columbia County, 
New York, in 1808, elected to a seat in the State 
Senate in 1812, appointed Attorney General of the 
Slate of New York in 1815, chosen United States 
Senator in 18,21, re-elected in 1827, but resigned to accept 
the office of Governor of New York, to which he had 
been chosen to fill the place made vacant by the death 
of DeWitt Clinton. 

He was appointed Secretary of State in 1829, and was 
appointed Minister to England in 1831. In 1832 he was 
elected Vice-President, and President in 1836, which 
office he held during one Presidential term. b 

When civil war broke out in 1861, Van Buren ex- 
pressed himself decidedly in favor of the Union. 
He died July 24, 1862. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.. 73 

LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. Give the dates of the beginning and close of Van 
Buren ? s administration. 

2. Name his Cabinet. 

3. Who of his Cabinet officers were reappointed from 
the preceding administration ? 

4. Name the Chief Justice. 

5. Name the Associate Judges. 

6. Who was Vice-President ? 

7. Who were Speakers of the House ? 

8. What issue of Treasury notes was authorized in 

1837? 

9. What did the President enjoin in 1838? 
10. When was the Sub-Treasury Bill passed ? 



LESSON II. 

PARTY ISSUES. 
See Diagram of Parties. 

1. What issue was advocated by the Democrats in 

1837? 

2. What advocated by the Whigs in 1837 ? 

3. What was advocated by the Democrats in 1840? 

4. What were opposed? 

5. What political party was organized in 1840 ? 

6. What was the main issue of the party ? 



74 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

7. When did the adherents to the Anti-Slavery 
Society assume a political Status ? 

8. What was Yan Buren's Electoral vote ? What his 
popular vote ? 



LESSON III. 

VAN SHEEN'S POLICY PANIC OP 1837 — EXTRA SESSION— - 

SUB-TREASURY STATE BANK DEPOSITORIES — ANNEXA- 
TION OP TEXAS BIGHT OP PETITION. 

1. What policy did Yan Buren adopt ? 

2. What caused the financial panic of '37 ? 

3. State the effects of the panic. ^ 

4. What induced Yan Buren to call an extra session 
of Congress ? 

5. What did the President recommend in the place of 
the State Banks for the Treasury deposits ? 

6. Give, in brief, the opposition to the Sub-Treasury 
Bill. 

7. When did the bill become a law ? 

8. State the course pursued by the Whigs in regard 
to the use of State banks as places of deposit of jmblic 
funds, and the grounds on which they justified their 
course. 

9. Were the Democrats involved in similar incon- 
sistencies ? 

10. What is said of the Annexation of Texas ? 

11. Give a statement of the course pursued relative 
to the right of petition. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED ST ES. 75 

LESSON IV. 

ABOLITION PARTY LIBERTY PARTY ELECTION OF 1840 

DIVORCE OF BANK AND STATE. 

1. State the cause of the organization of the Abolition 
Party, and when it was organized. 
2.. What of the Liberty Party ? 

3. Whom did the Liberty Party nominate in 1840? 

4. Whom did the Whigs nominate in 1839, as the 
candidates for 1840 ? 

5. Whom did the Democrats nominate in 1840 ? 

6. Give an account of the canvass by the Whigs. 

7. What won for Harrison the popular feeling ? 

8. What acted to defeat Van Buren ? 

9. What was Harrison's majority of the Electoral 
votes. 

10. How was the canvass designated ? 

11. What were the prominent characteristics of Van 
Buren's administration termed? 



CEKTAIN INVENTIONS. 

Horse shoes first made of iron A.D. 481. 

The first pens made of quills A.D. 580. 

Glass windows first used for lights A.D. 1180. 

Coal first dug for fuel A.D. 1234. 

Printing was invented A.D. 1436. 

First book printed in England A.D. 1507. 

Telescopes were invented A.D. 1549. 

First newspaper printed A.D. 1629. 

Circulation of blood discovered A.D. 1619. 

The barometer was invented A.D. 1623. 

The telegraph was invented by Morse A.D. 1832. 

The first railroad in the United States was built in 1828. 

First Atlantic Cable landed 1858. 



jq HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION X. 



ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM HENRY 
HARRISON AND JOHN TYLER. 



1841—1845. 



William Henry Harrison was a native of Virginia, 
born in 1778, and educated at Hamp den-Sidney College. 
After completing his literary studies he commenced the 
study of medicine. His military tastes led him to 
leave his professional studies and accept an ensign's 
commission in the army from President Washington. 
He was made Lieutenant in 1792; distinguished himself 
in the contests with the Northwestern Indians in 
1794; appointed Secretary of the Northwestern Terri- 
tory in 1797; and was elected first delegate to Congress 
from the Territory in 1799. In 1801, when Indiana was 
made a separate Territory, he was appointed Chief Mag- 
istrate of that Territory and held the office until 1813. 
In 1811 he distinguished himself at the battle of Tippe- 
canoe. In 1812 he was commissioned Major General in 
the Kentucky Militia. After the surrender of Hull at 
Detroit, he was appointed Major General in the army of 
the United States. He resigned his commission in 1814; 
in 1824 he was elected United States Senator; in 1828, 
appointed Minister to Colombia, and was elected Presi- 
dent of the United States in 1840. On the 4th of April, 



[HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 

1841, just one month from the day of his inauguration, 

lie died. 

John Tyler was a native of Virginia; born in 1790; 
graduated from William and Mary's College in 1807; 
admitted to the bar at the age of nineteen; elected to 
the Virginia Legislature in 1811; elected to Congress to 1 
fill a vacancy in 1816; elected Governor of Virginia in 
1825; chosen United States Senator in 1827; and elected 
Vice-President in 1840. 

On the death of President Harrison, in 1841, Tyler 
became President. He was President of the Peace Con- 
vention held in Washington during the late civil war. 
He died January 18, 1862. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. Give the date of the beginning and of the end of 
the administration. 

2. Who was Vice-President ? 

3. Name the Cabinet officers and note the changes 
that took place during this administration. 

4. Who were Presidents of the Senate in this adminis- 
tration ? How long did each preside ? 

5. Who was Chief Justice ? 

6. Who were Associate Judges ? 

7. Who were Speakers of the House, and for what 
length of time did each serve ? 

8. What laws were repealed by Congress in 1841 ? 

9. What loan was authorized ? 

10. What treaty was ratified in 1842 ? 

11. What appropriation was made in 1843 ? 



?3 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSOR II. 

ISSUES AXD PACTIONS. 
See Diagram of Parties. 

1. What party came into power in 1841 ? 

2. What issue did the Whigs advocate in 1841 ? 

3. What did the Whigs advocate in 1844 ? 

4. What did the Democrats advocate as issues in 
i844? 

5. WTiat disaffection occurred in the Democratic 
Party in 1843? 

6. What political organizations grew out of it ? 

7. Which of these factions returned to the regular 
party? 

8. What became of the Barnburners ? 

.9. Did any portion of this last mentioned faction 
return to the regular party, and when ? 

10. What political organization was formed by a 
disaffected portion of the Whig Party in 1843 ? 



LESSON III. 

WHIGS IN POWEE — DEATH OF HAEEISON — TYLEE's INAU- 
GURAL LIMITED VETO SUB-TEE ASUEY NATIONAL 

BANK EUPTUEE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND THE 

WHIGS. 

1. State prominent sentiments of Harrison's Inau- 
gural. 

2. When did Harrison die ? 

3. State points in Tyler's Inaugural ? 

4. What point advocated in Harrison's Inaugural 
became an issue of the Whigs after the break with 
Tyler ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

5. What is said of the Sub-Treasury Bill ? 

6. When did an extra session of Congress convene, 
and what did Tyler recommend in his formal Message ? 

7. What did the Secretary of the Treasury submit 
to Congress, and what was the purport of it ? 

8. What was done by Congress in reference to the 
Secretary's report ? 

9. Did it become a law? 

10. What then was done by Congress? What hap- 
pened to it ? 

11. What was the effect of this second veto? 



LESSON IV. 

NATIVE AMERICAN PARTY HUNKERS AND BARNBURNERS 

ELECTION OF 1844 ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 

1. When was the Native American Party organized ? 
What gave rise to it, and what were the leading objects? 

2. Give the origin of the terms Hunkers and Barn- 
burners. 

3. In 1844 who were the Presidential candidates of 

the Liberty Party, and when made ? 

4. Did they. adopt a platform? 

5. Who were the candidates of the Whig Party, and 
when nominated ? 

6. Did they adopt a platform ? 

7. Who were nominated by the Democratic Party ? 

8. What platform did they reaffirm, and with what 

additions ? 

9. Were there any other candidates? 



80 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

10. What was done by Polk, and what was the result ? 

11. How were the Whigs divided? 

12. Who were elected, and by what majority of 
Electoral votes ? 

13. When was Texas annexed? Who opposed? Who 
favored ? 

JUDICIARY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Judiciary embraces the Supreme Court and the Inferior 
Courts. The Supreme Court, the highest judicial tribunal in the 
United States, is composed of a Chief Justice and nine Associate 
Justices. At its first session, in 1790, it consisted of a Chief 
Justice and five Associates. The number of Associates was 
increased to six in 1807; to eight in 1837; and increased to nine 
in 1863. The salary of the Chief Justice is $10,500; that of each 
Associate, $10,000. The officers of the Supreme Court are; 
a Clerk, who receives fees for his services; a Marsha], 
whose salary is $3,000 ; and a Reporter, whose salary is 
$2,500. There are nine Circuit Courts, each presided over by 
one of the Associate Justices, assisted by a Circuit Judge. Each 
Circuit embraces several District Courts; and the nine Circuits 
include the States of the Union. The First Circuit embraces the 
Districts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode 
Island. The Second embraces the Districts of Vermont, Connec- 
ticut, Northern New York, Southern New York, and Eastern 
New York. The Third embraces the Districts of New Jersey, 
East Pennsylvania, West Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The 
Fourth embraces the Districts of Maryland, West Virginia, 
Virginia (two Districts), North Carolina (two Districts), and 
South Carolina. The Fifth embraces Georgia (two Districts), 
Florida (two Districts), Alabama (three Districts), Mississippi (two 
Districts), Louisiana (three Districts). The Sixth Circuit embraces 
the Districts of Ohio (two Districts), Michigan (two Districts), 
Kentucky, Tennessee (three Districts). The Seventh embraces the 
Districts of Indiana, Illinois (two), Wisconsin (two). The Eighth 
embraces Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri (two), Kansas, Arkansas 
(two), Nebraska, and Colorado. The Ninth Circuit embraces the 
Districts of California, Oregon, and Nevada. The Judiciary 
embraces also the United States Court of Claims, the local Courts 
of the Districts of Columbia, and the Territorial Courts. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 



SECTION XI. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 

1845—1849. 

James K. Polk was born in North Carolina, 1*795, and 
was educated at the University of North Carolina. He 
has the reputation of having been a remarkably indus- 
trious student. He graduated at the end of his third 
year, with high honors, and was admitted to the bar in 
1820; he was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee 
the same year; chosen representative to the United 
States Congress in 1825; and was elected Speaker of the 
House in 1835. 

He was dignified and firm, and no annoyance could 
upset his equanimity. After a service in Congress of 
fourteen years he declined a re-election. 

In 1839 he was elected Governor of Tennessee; was 
Vice-President for a small part of the term under Van 
Buren. In 1844 he was elected President. His admin- 
istration was thought to be a strong one. It included 
the period of the Mexican war, the excitements incident 
to the boundary of Oregon, and the finding of gold in 
California. He died June 15, 1849. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS. 

1. State the length of this administration ? 

2. Name the Cabinet, and time each official served. 

3. Name the Chief Justice. 



82 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

4. Name the Associate Justices. 

5. Name the Yice-President. 

6. The Speakers of the House. 

7. When was the first Tuesday after the first Mon- 
day of November fixed as the day for the Presidential 
Election ? 

8. What treaty was made in the same year ? 

9. What provision was made for carrying on the 
Mexican War"in 1846 ? 

10. What treaties were ratified in 1848 ? 



LESSON II. 

PARTY ISSUES. 
See Political Diagram. 

1. What political party was in power ? 

2. What were the issues of the Democrats in 1846 ? ' 

3. When did the Hunkers combine with the Demo- 
cracy ? 

4. When was the Liberty League Party organized ? 

5. What political party was formed ? 

6. From factions of what parties did it grow? 

7. State the issues of the Liberty League. 

8. State the issues of the Free Soil Party. 



LESSON III. 

POLK'S INAUGURAL— ANNEXATION OP TEXAS— MEXICAN 
WAR— WILMOT PROVISO— SUB-TREASURY— TAR1PF— IN- 
TERNAL IMPROVEMENTS OREGON. 

1. What is said of Polk's Inaugural ? 

2. What was the effect of the news of the action of 
Congress relative to the annexation of Texas, on Mexico ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

3. What was done by the Congress of Texas ? 

4. When was Texas added to the United States ? 

5. How was the war with Mexico announced? 

0. What was the Wilmot proviso, and how brought 

about ? 

7. Did it become a law ? 

8. What was done with the Sub-Treasury Bill in the 
Twenty-ninth Congress? 

9. What was done with the tariff in 1846 ? 

10. What was done in reference to internal improve- 
ments in this administration ? 

11. State the facts respecting party lines on the 
Oregon question. 

LESSON IV. 

LIBERTY LEAGUE NOMINATIONS OF 1848 FREE-SOIL 

PARTY CANVASS OF 1848. 

1. State the origin and watchword of the Liberty 

League. 

2. Who were Presidential nominees of the Liberty 
Party in 1848, and when were they nominated ? 

3. Whom did the Liberty League nominate ? 

4. State the dissensions in the Democratic Party, and 

the final result. 

5. What was the effect of the nomination on the 

two factions of the party ? 

6. Did the convention adopt a platform ? 

7. Who were the nominees of the Whig Party ? 

8. What is said of their platform ? 

9. Give a history of the organization of the Free 
Soil Party. Who were chosen as their Presidential 
candidates ? 



84 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION XII. 



ADMINISTRATION OF TAYLOR AND 

FILLMORE. 

1849—1853. 

Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia, born in 
1 784. His father's family removed to Kentucky in 1 785. 
Taylor entered the army at the age of twenty-four, as 
First Lieutenant of Infantry. He held a Captain's com- 
mission when the war of 1812 broke out, and was placed 
in command of Fort Harrison. For his gallantry and 
heroism in defence of the Fort, he was brevetted Major. 
At the close of the war, when the army was reduced, he 
was deprived of his majorship and reduced to Captain. 
His pride could not bear this indignity, and he left the 
service. Madison reinstated him Major and placed him 
in command at Green Bay. Here he was promoted to 
Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1832 Jackson commissioned him 
Colonel. He served under Scott in the Black Hawk 
war. He evinced superior generalship in his operations 
in Florida, and in 1S37 was brevetted Brigadier-General. 
In the war with Mexico he gained the brilliant victories 
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, which gave him 
renown as a military leader. In 1846 he gained the 
victory at Monterey. In 1847, he gained the great vic- 
tory of Buena Yista over Santa Anna. In 1848 he was 
elected President of the United States. Died in July, 
1850, sixteen months after his inauguration. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES., 85 

MILLARD FILLMORE 

was a native of the State of New York, born in 1800. 
In his youth he learned the fuller's trade, and after- 
ward taught school. He studied law, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1823. He practiced law in Buffalo from 
1830 to 1847, except when occupied in public life. In 
1828 he was elected to the State Legislature by the 
Anti-Masons, and served until 1831. In 1832 he was 
elected on the Anti-Jackson ticket to Congress, and 
served one term. He was re-elected in 183G, 1838, and 
1840. In 1842 he declined a renomination. When in 
Congress he advocated internal improvements, was the 
chief author of the Protective Tariff of 1842, and was in 
favor of the abolition of the slave trade between the 
States, and of slavery in the District of Columbia. In 
1847 he was chosen Comptroller of the State of New 
York. In 1848 was elected Vice-President of the United 
States. On the death of President Tavlor he succeeded 
to the Presidency. By the signing of the Fugitive Slave 
Act, and a subsequent determination to enforce it, he 
lost the support of a large portion of his party in the 
Northern States. In 1850 he was the Presidential 
candidate of the American Party. He died in 1874. 



LESSON I. 

DEPAETMENTS. 

1. State the length of the administration by dates. 

2. Name the Cabinet and the time each one served, 

3. Who was Chief Justice ? 

4. Who were Associate Judges ? 

5. Who presided in the Senate ? 



86 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

6. Who were Speakers of the House ? 

7. When was the French Ambassador dismissed ? 

8. When was Webster's great speech delivered ? 

9. What treaties were ratified in 1850 ? 

10. When was the cheap postage law enacted? 

11. What was the ratio of representation in 1852 ? 



LESSON II. 

PARTY FACTIONS— PARTY ISSUES. 
See Diagram of Parties. 

1. What party came into power on the accession of 
Taylor to the Presidency ? 

2. What faction of the Whigs branched off in 1850? 

3. A part of what faction of the Democrats returned 
to the main party in 1852 ? 

4. During the -latter part of Fillmore's administration 
what happened to the Whigs as a party ? 

5. What measures were advocated by the Whigs in 

1852? 

6. What new party was organized in 1852 ? 
V. From what parties did it spring? 

8. What party did it absorb entire ? 



LESSON III. 

Taylor's policy — government for the Mexican CES- 
SION—OMNIBUS BILL— COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850* 

fillmore's accession and secession. 

1. State the general points of Taylor's policy. 

2. What rendered legislation on the government of 
the Mexican session difficult ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Si 

3. How was the difficulty adjusted ? 

4. Describe in full the Omnibus Bill and its fate. 

5. Describe the compromise measures of 1850, and 
state how they were received by the leaders of the two 
great parties. 

6. Describe Fillmore's accession and secession. 



LESSON IV. 

SILVER-GRAYS— AMERICAN PARTY ELECTION OF 1052— 

DISSOLUTION OF THE WHIG PARTY. 

1. Describe in full the origin of the Silver-Gray 

Party. 

2. When was the American Party organized, and 

what was its professed object ? 

3. By what name was it generally known ? 

4. Who were the nominees of the Democrats in 1852, 
and how were they pledged? 

5. Who were the Whig candidates, and wherein did 
they agree with the Democrats ? 

6. Whom did the Free Soil Party nominate, and what 
were their expectations and hopes ? 

T. Were the Democrats united or divided on their 

platform ? 

8. What prevented a vigorous canvass by the Whigs ? 

9. What was the result of the election ? 



88 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION XIII. 



ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

1853—1857. 
GENERAL FRANKLIN PIERCE 

was a native of New Hampshire, born in 1 804, and edu- 
cated at Bowdoin College. During his first two years 
in college he was wild and reckless, but was extremely 
popular with his fellows, owing to his frank manners 
and generous disposition. During the last two years he 
was steady, industrious, and studious. In after life he 
himself attributed this change to the influence of Zenas 
Caldwell, a classmate, who took great interest in him. 

Pierce was a classmate of Rev. Dr. Stowe, and of Na- 
thaniel Hawthorne, the beautiful American prose writer. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1827. From the first 
he was remarkably successful in the profession of .law. 

At the age of twenty-five he was elected to the State 
Legislature, and re-elected for three successive years. 

In 1831 he was chosen Speaker of the Lower House 
of the Legislature, New Hampshire. 

In 1831 he was elected United States Representative, 
and re-elected in 1833. 

In 1837 he was chosen United States Senator. He re- 
signed his seat in 1842. He volunteered in the Mexican 
war, when a requisition was made upon New Hampshire 
for a battalion of volunteers, and was appointed Colonel 
of the Ninth Regiment. Soon after was raised to Briga- 
dier-General. He served until 1847, when he resigned. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 

In 1850 was elected member of the Convention to re- 
vise the Constitution of New Hampshire, and was chosen 
President of the Convention. 

In 1852 he was the nominee of the Democratic Party 
for President of the United States, and received 254 
Electoral votes out of 296 cast in the Electoral College. 

He died in 1869. 



LESSON I. 

DEPAETM ENTS . 

1. "When was Franklin Pierce elected President ? 
What was the length of his administration ? 

2. Name his Cabinet. 

3. Who was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ? 

4. Who were Associate Judges ? 

5. Who were the acting Presidents of the Senate, 
and for what time each ? 

6. Who were Speakers of the House ? 

7. What important bill was passed by Congress in 
1854? 

8. What treaties were ratified in 1854 ? 

9. When did Brooks, of South Carolina, assault 
Senator Sumner ? 

10. When was the British Envoy ordered to leave 
Washington ? 



LESSON II. 

PARTIES AND THEIR ISSUES. 
See Party Diagram. 

1. What bill was advocated by the Democratic 
Party in 1854? 



90 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

2. What political party was formed in 1854 ? 

3. State the issues of the Democratic Party in 1856. 

4. What in 1857? 

5. When was the modern Republican Party organ- 
ized ? 

6. It was a combination of what parties ? 

7. Did all factions of the Whig Party unite in its 
organization ? 

8. By what other parties were two factions absorbed? 

9. Give the issues of the Republican Party in 1856. 
10. Give the issues of the American Party in 1856, 

also of the Silver-Grays. 



LESSOR III. 

pierce's political eaith — kansas-nebraska bill- 
territorial LEGISLATION— TOPEKA CONSTITUTION. 

1. What was Pierce's political faith in involuntary 

servitude ? 

2. Who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and 

what was its object ? 

3. Who opposed it, and on what grounds ? 

4. Give a full account of the proceedings in the Ter- 
ritorial legislation ? 

5. What was done at a meeting of the inhabitants of 

Kansas in 1855 ? 

6. How long did the civil war in Kansas continue ? 

7. What was done by the State Legislature chosen at 
the election of January 15, 1856? 

8. What is said of the two Legislatures ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 

LESSON IV. 

KANSAS WAR LEGISLATION FOR KANSAS ANTI-NE- 
BRASKA REPUBLICAN TARTY ELECTION OF 1656. 

1. What is said of the civil war in Kansas ? Between 
what classes ? 

2. What Message was sent to Congress in 1856 by 
the President ? 

3. What was done in the Senate ? 

4. State the result of the visit of the committee to 
Kansas. 

5. What was done with the bill to admit Kansas as 
a Free State ? 

6. What was the result of the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise ? 

7. How was the proposed repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise regarded in 1S54 ? 

8. State the origin of the modern Republican Party 
and the causes which led to it. 

9. Of what political parties was it composed ? 

10. State the course of the American Party in 1856. 

11. What was the course of the seceders ? What 
name did they assume? 

12. State the nominations of the Democratic and 
Republican Parties. 

13. What was done by the Silver-Grays ? 

14. Between whom lay the contest, and who were 
elected ? 



92 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION XIV. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 

1857 — 1861. 

A native of Pennsylvania, James Buchanan was born 
in 1794. He was educated at Dickinson College; was 
admitted to the bar in 1812; elected to the State Legis- 
lature in 1814, and to Congress in 1821, where he 

remained ten years. 

He was appointed Minister to Russia in 1831, and con- 
cluded the first commercial treaty between that country 
and the United States. He was elected to the United 
States Senate in 1833, and remained till 1845. In 1845 
he became a member of the President's Cabinet (Secre- 
tary of State). He returned to private life in 1849. 

In 1853 he was called again into public by the ap- 
pointment of Minister to England. 

He was elected President in 1856. His administration 
was distracted by the unsettled condition of Kansas, 
troubles with the Mormons, the John Brown affair, and 
the breaking out of secession. 

In 1860, in his Message he expressed a hope that the 
results of these dissensions would be averted. He attri- 
buted the impending trouble to Northern agitation of the 
slavery question, and argued that Congress had no 
power to coerce a State into submission if it seceded. 
He held it to be the duty of the executive to see that the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 

laws are faithfully executed, but claimed that circum- 
stances had put it out of his power to do it in South 
Carolina. He afterwards 'refused to treat with Com- 
missioners from South Carolina for the delivery, to 
that State, of the Federal property within the limits of 
the State. He also refused to withdraw the United. 
States troops from Charleston harbor. 

In 1866 he published a book entitled "Buchanan's 
Administration." 

He died in 1868. 



LESSON I. 

D E P ARTME NTS. 

1. When was Buchanan inaugurated? What was 
the length of his administration ? 

2. Name his Cabinet, and point out the changes that 
took place in it. 

3. Who was Chief Justice ? 

4. Name the Associate Judges. 

5. What was the great financial event of 1857 ? 

6. What are the important political events of 1858 ? 
When was the first, and when the second Atlantic Cable 
laid ? * 

7. At what was the ratio of representation fixed, in 
1860? 

*CYRUS W. FIELD 

is a native of Massachusetts, born at Stockbridge, No- 
vember 30, 1819. He is the son of the late Rev. David 
Dudley Field, a distinguished clergyman of Massachu* 
setts. His school education was obtained in the public 



94 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

schools of his native county. At the age of fifteen he 
entered an enterprising mercantile house in New York 
city as a clerk. The evidence he gave, from the first, 
of unusual business capacity, influenced his employers 
to advance him rapidly, and in a few years he became a 
member of the firm. His success as a merchant was re- 
markable. In 1853 he retired from the mercantile busi- 
ness with what, in those days, was considered a large 
fortune, the substantial reward of indefatigable energies 
and eminent business ability. Exhausted by a close ap- 
plication to business, without any relaxation, Mr. Field 
resolved to seek recreation and change of scene in 
foreign travel. Leaving New York he spent six months 
in traveling through the mountain regions of South 
America. On his return home his active mind was rest- 
less and uneasy, and he determined to engage in a new 
field of enterprise. 

About this time Mr. Field was introduced by his 
brother, a successful and well-known civil engineer, to 
Mr. F. N. Gisborne, of Newfoundland, who had come to 
New York to enlist capitalists in a company already 
chartered in Newfoundland, whose purpose was to trans- 
mit news from continent to continent with greater dis- 
patch than could be done by the existing mode. The 
plan proposed telegraphic communication from New 
York to St. Johns, N. B., thence by rapid steamships 
to Liverpool, and telegraph from Liverpool to London, 
This could be effected in six days or less. 

Mr. Field examined the route, and, while examining 
it, the idea flashed across his mind that a telegraph 
wire might be stretched across the ocean, and thus re- 
duce the time of communication between the two conti- 
nents from six days to less than one second. This was 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 

the conception of that wonderfully great enterprise, the 
Atlantic cable telegraph. 

Great enterprises require equally great efforts to ac- 
complish them. In this enterprise the difficulties, at 
times, seemed insurmountable. It is doubtful whether 
there is another man in the Old or New "World that 
would have surmounted them. It has been said that 
the greatest boons conferred on mankind are due to men 
of one idea. The author of this Hand-Book does not 
entertain that sentiment. Mr. Field is not a man of 
one idea, but of many. When he attempts the consum- 
mation of an object, he devotes himself, with gentle 
force and patient vigor, to that one idea, enriching his 
plans and efforts from a thousand others, until he con- 
verts all opposition, overcomes all indifference, and 
reaches a successful termination. The Atlantic cable 
has a core ; it has also an external protection. Speaking 
metaphorically, Mr. Field was, at one time, its core 
— its active .life ; at another, its iron-bound guardian — 
its protection from utter failure. No man but himself can 
know the mountain of obstacles that were in his pathway, 
the billows of disheartening discouragements that were 
met, broken, and dashed aside. The first effort to lay 
the cable was a failure. The second was a failure, and 
disheartened every person interested financially in it ex- 
cept Mr. Field. His faith never wavered, his enterpris- 
ing spirit knew no discomfiture. Success was the watch- 
word on his banner, perseverance and energy, twisted 
together, like the strands of the cable, constituted the 
staff on which it rested, and an indomitable will was 
the arm that upheld and bore the staff onward. Up to 
the present time this is the great work of Mr. Field's 
life, and it is enough to render his name immortal for 



96 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

all coming time. God only knows, however, what he 
may accomplish before he dies, for, in activity, energy, 
and perseverance, he is a young man yet — some men 
never grow old — and we hope and trust Mr. Cyrus 
West Field is one of that number. 



LESSON II. 

, PARTY ISSUES. 

See Diagram of Political Parties. 

1. State an important political issue of 1857, advo- 
cated by the Democratic Party. 

2. State issues in the advocacy of which Douglas took 
a prominent part. 

3. State the issues of 1860, advocated by Beckenridge. 

4. State the issues taken and advocated by the Repub- 
licans in 1860. 

5. Give the points advocated by the American or 
Constitutional Union Party. 



LESSON III. 

ORED SCOTT DECISION LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION- 
ENGLISH BILL WYANDOT CONSTITUTION" JOHN 

BROWN'S RAID — CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PARTY. 

1. Give a history of the Dred Scott case. 

2. State when the Lecompton Constitution was formed. 

3. What did legislation upon the subject result in? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 

4. What was done with it ? 

5. Describe the Wyandot Constitution, and what was 
done in regard to it. 

. Describe the John Brown raid, and its effect. 
7. What happened to the Constitutional Union Party ? 
What took its place? What of the strength of the 
latter ? 



LESSON IV. 

ELECTION OF 1860 SECESSION. 

1. Describe the course of the Constitutional Union- 
ists in preparation for the election of 1860. 

2. Describe that of the Republican Party. 

3. Of the Democratic Party. 

4. Describe the course of those who withdrew. 

5. What was the course of the Convention at Rich- 
mond ? 

6. What was the result of the election ? 

7. What was the effect of the election of Lincoln on 
South Carolina ? 

8. What course was pursued by the Southern mem- 
bers in Congress ? 

9. What was the view of President Buchanan ? 

10. State the history of the secession of the States 
and the organization of the Confederacy. 

11. What course was pursued in Congress? 

12. What is said of political distinctions at the close 
of Buchanan's administration ? 



98 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION XV. 

ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

1861—1865. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, February 12, 
1809. 

His early life was, in many respects, eventful. As in 
the case of most self-made men, his efforts and struggles, 
doubtless, had much to do in bringing out the elements 
of uprightness and honesty which characterized his riper 
years. 

His native goodness was shown in his love for his 
mother, whose excellent qualities of heart he inherited to 
a high degree. His mother said of him after his assassi- 
nation : " Abe never gave me a cross word or look, 
and never refused to do anything I requested him.'' 

A remarkably retentive memory characterized his 
early and maturer life. In 1825 we find him employed as 
a farm hand at six dollars per month, where he was 
plowman, ferryman, and hostler combined. Indeed he 
was man-of-all-work within doors and without doors. 

He rose early, built fires, put on the water in the 
kitchen, and had things prepared for cooking before the 
mistress of the house was stirring. During that time it 
is said he read every night till midnight. 

He was fond of music, but was unable to produce 
three harmonious notes. 

In 1828 to 1830 we find him a boatman on the Missis- 
sippi at eight dollars per month. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 

His first public official act was in 1831, when lie acted 
as clerk of the polls of election. The same year we 
find him clerk in a country store. 

In 1832 he enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was 
elected captain of a company. In the latter part of the 
same year he made his first stump speech in the follow- 
ing words : " Gentlemen, I presume you know me. I 
have been solicited, by my friends, to become a candi- 
date for the Legislature. My politics are short and 
sweet, like the old woman's dance. I am in favor of a 
national bank ; I am in favor of internal improvements, 
and a high protective tariff." 

His election was defeated. In 1833 was appointed 
Postmaster in New Salem, Illinois. In 1 834 he was a 
candidate the second time to the Illinois Legislature, and 
was elected ; was re-elected in 1836 and 1838. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1837. In 1847 he was elected 
representative in Congress. 

He was a lawyer of some note, made his living by his 
practice, and his reputation as a politician. In 1852 he 
became an active advocate of abolition principles. 

In 1860 he was elected President of the United States, 
and re-elected in 1864. He was assassinated on the 14th 
of April, 1865, by an obscure theatrical actor. 

No calamity since the foundation of the government, 
up to that time, had affected the people of the United 
States so deeply as the sad event of President Lincoln's 
death. 

The signs of mourning could be seen covering the 
entrance of every public structure; memorial services 
were held in almost every church-parish of the Northern 
States ; the church edifices were invariably draped in 
mourning. 



100 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

The sentiments expressed in the closing sentence of 
his second Inaugural is a monument of the true noble- 
ness of his heart and his distinguished magnanimity: 
" With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, 
let us finish the work we are engaged in— to bind up the 
nation's wounds, to care for him who may have borne 
the battle, and for his widow and his orphan, and do all 
that we can to achieve and cherish a just and lasting 
peace among ourselves and with all nations." 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS, DRAFTS, ETC. 

1. When did Lincoln's administration begin ? 

2. Name his Cabinet and the changes that took place. 

3. Name the Chief Justice up to 1864. 

4. Name the Associate Judges. 

5. Who was Vice-President during his first term? 
Who during his second term? 

6. State the call of the President in 1861. 

7. When was slavery prohibited in the Territories ? 

8. When was polygamy forbidden in the U. S. ? 

9. When was the Union Pacific Railroad chartered ? 

10. When was the Department of Agriculture organ- 
ized? 

11. Wfcat draft was ordered in 1862, and what number 
of volunteers called and for what length of time ? 



LESSON II. 

VOLUNTEERS, DRAFTS, AND POLITICAL ISSUES. 

1. What Bureau was established in 1863 ? 



HISTORY OF TITE UNITED STATES. 101 

2. What loan was authorized ? 

3. What proclamations were issued in 1S63 ? 

4. What number of volunteers was called for in 1863 ? 

5. When was the Fugitive Slave Law repealed ? 

6. What draft was ordered in 1864, and what number 
of men was accepted from Governors of Western States ? 

See Diagram of Parties. 

7. What was advocated by the Republican Party in 
1861 and in 1863 ? 

8. What were the issues of 1864 ? 

9. What were advocated by the Democrats in 1864 ? 



LESSON III. 

INAUGURATION — PARTY ADJUSTMENT — THE WAR — OPPO- 
SITION" TO THE TVAR CURRENCY AND FINANCES. 

1. Give an account of the inauguration of President 
Lincoln, and state points in his Inaugural Address. 

2. Give an account of party adjustments. 

3. When, and where, was the first gun of the civil 
war fired ? 

4. What occurred on the loth of April? 

5. Give the status of the States on the war. 

6. State the efforts to encourage desertion from the 
army and protect deserters in the West. 

1. What excited the worst opposition ? Where, and 
by what class of citizens ? 

8. What was done vrith the "Habeas Corpus Writ " 
during the war ? Why ? 

9. What loan was authorized in 1861 ? 

10. What money issue in 1862 was authorized? 



102 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

11. What is said of other loans, and of the "green- 
backs " ? 

12. What of the opposition to the new currency ? 

13. How were the loans authorized by Congress rep- 
resented ? What did they constitute ? 

14. How are the notes of the banks supplied ? How is 
the Government secured, and what is said of their 
exemption from tax ? 



LESSON IV. 

TARIFF AND INTERNAL REVENUE EMANCIPATION 

NEGRO SOLDIERS FREEDMEN *S BUREAU RECON- 
STRUCTION ELECTION IN 1864 ASSASSINATION OF 

LINCOLN. 

1. What required a revision of the tariff? 

2. When was the system of Internal Revenue created, 
and what was its object ? 

3. Give an account of the Emancipation Proclama- 
tions. 

4. When was the act authorizing the enlistment of 
colored troops passed ? 

5. When was the act creating the Freedmen's Bureau 
passed, and what was its object ? 

6. Give an account of the President's plan for read- 
mitting the seceded States. 

7. State the opposition to this plan. 

8. Give an account of the nominations for 1864. 

9. What were the results of the election? 

10. What was Lincoln's majority of Electoral votes? 

11. Give a brief account of the assassination. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 



SECTION XVI. 



ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 

1865—1869. 

Andrew Johnson was a native of North Carolina, 
born in 1808. In his early life he was apprenticed a 
tailor, and his opportunities for school learning were 
somewhat limited. 

In 1826 he removed to Greeneville, Tennessee, and 
worked at his trade. 

In 1828 he was elected an alderman. In 1830 he was 
elected Mayor of Greeneville, which office he held until 
1833. He took an active part in securing the adoption 
of the new Constitution of Tennessee. In 1835 and 1839 
he was elected to the Lower House of the State Legis- 
lature. In 1841 he was elected to the State Senate. In 
1843 he was elected representative to Congress, and by 
successive re-elections remained ten years. 

He advocated annexation of Texas, war with Mexico, 
the tariff of 1846, and general retrenchment in the 
expenses of government. 

He was Governor of Tennessee from 1853 to 1857. 
In 1857 he was chosen United States Senator, where he 
was a leading advocate of the Homestead Law. On 
slavery, though a Southern man, he held that it must be 
kept subordinate to the general government, at all 
hazards. 

In 1860 he supported Breckenridge, but in a speech 
in the Senate he placed himself unreservedly on the side 
of the Union. In 1861 3 when the Legislature of Tennessee 



104 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

" voted the State out of the Union," Johnson returned 
home, and on account of his opposition to the course of 
the Legislature and his bold defense of the Union, he 
was, many times, in peril of his life. He took a promi- 
nent part in the East Tennessee Union Convention, and 
when the Unionists fled into Kentucky, Johnson met 
them there and used his influence with the general 
government for the establishment of Camp Dick Robin- 
son. In this camp these refugees found shelter, food, 
and clothing. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed 
Johnson Military Governor of Tennessee. He was 
elected Vice-President in 1864, and became President 
in 1865, at the death of President Lincoln. 

One of the first acts of his administration was to 
appoint a military commission for the trial of those 
concerned in the assassination of President Lincoln, and 
offered $100,000 for the arrest of Jefferson Davis. 

Johnson's policy of reconstruction was opposed by 
Congress. The opposition took somewhat of a personal 
turn when he vetoed the Civil Rights Bill, the Act for the 
Extension of the Freedmen's Bureau, and other bills, all 
of which were eventually passed over the veto. In 1868 
the House of Representatives passed a resolution " that 
the President be impeached." The articles of impeach- 
ment were sent to the Senate, and were based on the 
following specifications: "The removal of Stanton," 
"Contempt for Congress," for stating that " the Thirty- 
ninth Congress was not a Constitutional Congress, and 
for his hinderance of the execution of some of its acts." 

The President was acquitted. A two-thirds vote is 
necessary to convict. In 1875 he was chosen United 
States Senator from Tennessee, took his seat in March, 
and died in July of the same year. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 

LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS BLOCKADE LOANS COST OF THE CIVIL 

WAR. 

1. When did Johnson begin tha administration of the 
government ? 

2. Name his Cabinet. 

3. Name the Chief Justice. 

4. Name the Associate Judges, and the acting Presi- 
dent of the Senate. 

5. Who was Speakei of the House ? 

6. When was the blockade of the Southern ports 
removed ? 

7. What was the effect of the death of Lincoln on the 
nation ? 

8. What amount was subscribed to the 7.30 loan dur- 
ing the week ending May 13, 1865 ? 

9. What was the cost of the civil war ? 



LESSON II. 

AMENDMENTS SOUTHERN STATES INTO MILITARY DIS- 
TRICTS — PARTY ISSUES. 

1. What amendments to the Constitution were made 
during Johnson's administration ? 

2. What bills were passed in 1866 ? 

3. When were the Southern States organized into 
military districts ? 

4. What treaty was concluded in 1867 ? 

See Diagram of Parties. 

5. What issues were advocated by the Republicans 
in 1865 ? 



106 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

6. What in 1868? 

7. What by the Democrats in 1868 ? 

8. When was the right to vote granted to Freedmen ? 



LESSON III. 



Johnson's acts as president — reconstruction 



PARTY CHANGES THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT- -EN- 
LARGEMENT OF THE FREEDMEN'S 
RIGHTS FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. 



LARGEMENT OF THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU CIVIL 



1. State prominent points in Johnson's Inaugural, 
setting forth his policy. 

2. State Johnson's views of the condition of the se- 
ceded States. 

3. What were the views of the Republicans ? 

4. What of the Democrats ? 

5. State the substance of the Reconstruction Bill of 
1867. 

6. Who opposed the measure? 

7. What is said of party changes ? 

8. What was the object of the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment, and when did it go into force ? 

9. When was the bill to enlarge the power of the 
Freeclmen's Bureau passed by Congress ? What became 
of it ? 

10. Give an account of the Civil Rights Bill. 

11. Give an account of the Fourteenth Amendment. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 

LESSON IV. 

NEGRO SUFFRAGE — LIMITING THE PRESIDENT'S POWER — 

REMOVAL OF STANTON IMPEACHMENT— CONFEDERATE 

ELECTION IN 1868. 

1. Give an account of the negro suffrage. 

2. What did the antagonism between the President 
and the Republicans lead to ? 

3. State the points of the limitation of power of the 

President ? 

4. Give an account of the attempted removal and of 
the suspension of Secretary Stanton. 

5. Give an account of the trial to impeach the Presi- 
dent. 

6. What is said of the Confederates ? 

7. Give an account of the Presidential nominations of 

1868. 

8. What were the issues in the contest ? 

9. Who were elected, and by what majority ? 



108 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 



SECTION XVII. 



ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

1869—1877. 

Ulysses S. Grant is a native of Ohio, born at Point 
Pleasant, "a la belle riviere," April 22, 1822. His 
parents named him. Hiram Ulysses Grant ; but by the 
" overruling hand " of the official — not to say of Provi- 
dence — who blunderingly made out the papers of his ap- 
pointment to West Point, his name was inserted Ulysses 
S. Grant, and Ulysses S. it had to remain. He gradu- 
ated in 1843, at the age of twenty-one years. His pro- 
gress in his studies was steady, not rapid ; he was a 
solid student, but not brilliant. He was commissioned 
Lieutenant, and sent to the frontier of Missouri to aid 
in protecting the people from the invasions of the 
Indians. 

In 1845 he was sent with his regiment to Corpus 
Christi, an important Texan post, where he engaged, for 
the first time, in battle. 

He served in the Mexican Campaign, during which he 
was raised to Captain. 

In 1854 he resigned and turned his attention to the 
pursuits of civil life. 

At the breaking out of the rebellion he raised a com- 
pany at Galena, Illinois, and marched with them to 
Springfield, and proffered himself and company to de- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 

fend the Stars and Stripes. Governor Yates, reading in 
his face and general demeanor his ability, secured his 
aid in the volunteer organization then forming. 

In June, 1861, Governor Yates offered him the office 
of Colonel of the Twent} r -fir$t Regiment of Illinois, 
which offer was accepted. In August, 1861, he was pro- 
moted to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers. 

In the same year he seized Paducah, at the mouth of 
Tennessee River; Smithland, at the mouth of Cumber, 
land River; and fought the battle of Belmont. 

In 1862 he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. 
In consequence of the brilliant and substantial victory 
of Fort Donelson, he was commissioned Major-General, 
and was given command of the Department of ^Yest 
Tennessee. In the same year (1862) he gained a victory 
at Iuka. In 1863 he defeated the enemy at Raymond, 
Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Big Black ; laid the 
siege of Yicksburg, and received the city on surrender. 
As a reward for his ability and success, he was pro- 
moted to the rank of Major-Gen eral in the regular army, 
and placed in command of the military division of Mis- 
sissippi. In the same year he carried, by assault, Mis- 
sionary Bridge and Lookout Mountain. Congress gave 
expression to their appreciation of his military success, 
by ordering for him a gold medal, and by returning 
thanks to him and his army. 

In 1862 the grade of Lieutenant-General was revived 
for him, at which time he was given command of the 
Army of the United States. He now planned two cam- 
paigns against the vital points of the Confederacy — one 
under his own direction against Richmond, the other 
under General Sherman against Atlanta. 

In April, 1865, he gained the glorious victory of Five 



HO HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Forks, immediately after which Richmond was evacu- 
ated by General Lee. Soon after Grant forced Lee to 
surrender at Appomattox Court House. 

Grant was Secretary of War during the suspension of 

Stanton. 

He was elected President of the United States in 1868, 

and re-elected in 1872. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS— FOREIGN MINISTER— RATIO OF REPRE- 
SENTATION—GENEVA TRIBUNAL— ATLANTIC CABLE. , 

1. When did Grant's administration begin ? 

2. How many terms did he serve ? 

3. Who was Vice-President during the first term ? 

4. Who during the second term ? 

5*. Name Grant's Cabinet during his first term. 

6. Name his Cabinet during his second term. 

7. Name the Chief Justice and the Associate Judges. 
8 Who were Speakers of the House ? 

9. In 1870 the recall of what Foreign Minister was 
requested? What proclamation was issued ? _ 

10. At what was the ratio of representation fixed m 

1872 ? 

11 ' To what number did it limit the Representatives ? 

12. What amount was awarded the United States by 
the Geneva Tribunal. . 

13. What decision was made in favor of the United 
States by Emperor William of Germany in 1872 ? 

14. When was telegraphic connection between tne 
United States and Europe completed ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill 

15. What treaties were made in 1875 ? 

16. When and for what appropriation was the Cen- 
tennial Bill passed? 

17. What treaties in 1876 and 1877 ? 



LESSON II. 

ISSUES OF POLITICAL PARTIES TEMPERANCE PARTY 

NATIONAL PARTY. 

See Party Diagram. 

1. What faction of the Republicans branched off in 
1870 ? What principles did it advocate ? What oppose ? 

2. State an issue of the Republican Party in 1871. 

3. State the issue in 1872. 

4. What new parties were organized in 1872 ? 

5. What principles were advocated by the Temper- 
ance Party ? 

6. When did the Liberalists return to the main 

party ? 

7. What were the issues of the Republican Party in 

1875, and in 1876? 

8. When did the Temperance Party change its name, 
and what were its political principles ? 

9. When was the Labor Reform Party organized ? 
What the issue ? 

10. When was the Independent, or National Party, 

organized ? 

11. Out of factions from what other parties and 
organizations ? 

12. What were the principles advocated by the party ? 



112 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON III. 

RECONSTRUCTION FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT SOUTHERN 

TROUBLES KU KLUX — SAN DOMINGO CIVIL SERVICE 

REFORM. 

1. Give an account of the reconstruction scheme 
during Grant's administration. 

2. Give an account of the Fifteenth Amendment. 

3. Give the cause and origin of the Ku Klux Klan. 

4. What was the effect of these troubles in 
Louisiana ? 

5. What course did Congress pursue in regard to 
these troubles ? 

6. What was the course of General Grant in regard 
to these troubles ? 

7. State the efforts of Grant to procure a harbor and 
naval station on the coast of San Domingo. t 

8. What became of the project ? 

9. Describe the course pursued in regard to Civil 
Service Reform. 

10. What became of the plan of Civil Service Reform ? 



LESSON IV. 

LABOR REFORM PARTY — THE GRANGERS TEMPERANCE 

PARTY NATIONAL PARTY STRAIGHT-OUT DEMOCRATS 

— LIBERAL REPUBLICANS. 

1. Give the origin of the Labor Reform Party. 

2. What is said of the reduction of the hours of 
labor ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 

3. Who were combined with the workingmen ? 

4. Give a full description of the " Grangers." 

5. Describe the origin of the Temperance Party. 
What name did it receive in 1876 ? 

6. Describe the National Party (Greenbackers). 

7. Who were the*" Straight-out Democrats " ? 

8. Describe the Liberal Republican Party. When did 
it assume a national organization ? 



LESSON V. 

ELECTIONS OF 1872 — STATE GOVERNMENTS IN..THE SOUTH 

FINANCES. 

1. Who were the nominees of the Liberal Republi- 
cans in 1872 ? 

2. Describe the action of the Democratic Party in 
1872. 

3. What was the effect of the Convention at Balti- 
more? 

4. Who were the nominees of the National Republi- 
cans ? 

5. Describe the course of the Labor Reform Party ? 

6. Who were nominees of the National Temperance 
Party ? 

7. What was the result of the election? 

8. Describe the local disturbances in the recon- 
structed States during Grant's second term. 

9. What was the tendency of the policy of the Gov- 
ernment with respect to finances ? 

10. What was done in Congress ? 

11. What was the inclination of the President on this 
subject ? 



114 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

LESSON YI. 

RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS ELECTION OF 1876. 

1. When was the bill providing for the resumption 
of specie payments passed ? 

2. By whom was it approved, and by whom opposed ? 

3. State the views of both friends and foes. 

4. State the final result. 

5. Name the Republican nominees in 1876. 

6. Name those of the Democratic Party. 

7. Who were the nominees of the National Party ? 

8. How many undisputed Electors were elected by 
the Republicans? 

9. How many by the Democrats ? 

10. The votes of what States were contested? How 
many votes in each ? 

11. Which party gave certificates of Electors, and 
which party contested their validity ? 

12. What was done by Congress to settle the contest? 
13/ Who composed this Commission ? 

14. From what Departments of the Government were 
these Commissioners selected ? 

15. What was the result of the action of the Com- 
mission ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATE?. 115 



SECTION XVIIL 



ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. 

HAYES. 

1878—1881. 

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES. 

R. B. Hayes, the nineteenth President of the United 
States, is a native of Ohio, born in 1822. He received 
his literary education at Kenyon College, after which 
he studied law in the Law School of Harvard University, 
and in 1845 began the practice of law in his native State. 
From 1859 to 1861 he was City Solicitor of Cincinnati. 
In 1861 he volunteered his services to the Government, 
and was soon after made Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Infantry. Soon after he was assigned to duty in 
West Virginia, and was made Lieutenant-Colonel. He 
won distinction in the battle of South Mountain, in 
which he was severely wounded. In 1864 he com- 
manded a brigade in General Crook's division. He 
bore a conspicuous part in the battles of Cloyd Moun- 
tain, Winchester, Berryville, and Cedar Creek. 

In the latter part of 1864 he was made Brigadier- 
General, and in 1865 Major-General. In the last men- 
tioned year he took his seat in Congress, to which he 
had been elected the fall before. In 1866 he was re- 



116 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

elected. In 1867 he was elected Governor of Ohio, re- 
elected in 1869, and again in 1875. 

In 1876 he was nominated by the Republicans for the 
Presidency. His popular vote is reported at 4,033,000; 
that of Tilden at 4,280,000. The Electoral vote in 
some States was claimed for each candidate. The ques- 
tion in dispute was decided by an Electoral Commis- 
sion created by Congress, consisting of five United 
States Representatives, five United States Senators, and 
five Judges of the United States Supreme Court. The 
count commenced February 1st, and on the 2d of 
March the Commission declared that Hayes had re- 
ceived 185 Electoral votes, and Tilden 184. Hayes was 
inaugurated President March 5, 1877, and held the ofiice 
four years. 



LESSON I. 

DEPARTMENTS RECALL OF TROOPS FROM THE SOUTH — ■ 

XJTE WAR. 

1. State the length of the administration. 

2. Who was Vice-President ? 

3. Name the Cabinet officers. 

4. What changes were made in the Cabinet ? 

5. Who was Chief Justice ? 

6. Who were Associate Judges ? 

7. Who was Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives ? 

8. When were the Federal troops recalled from the 
South ? 

9. When did the Ute war begin ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 

LESSON II. 

PARTY ISSUES. 
See Diagram of Parties. 

1. State the issues of the Republicans in 1880. 

2. What faction branched off in 1879 ? 

3. What were advocated, and what opposed, by the 
Prohibitionists in 1880? 

4. What by the National Party ? 

5. What party did the National Party absorb in 

1880? 

6. What were advocated, and what opposed, by the 

Democratic Party in 1880 ? 

7. What faction of the Democrats bolted in 1879 ? 



LESSON III. 

CONCILIATION — CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ENFORCEMENT 

OP ELECTION LAWS — NEGRO EXODUS— RESUMPTION. 

1. What was the most prominent feature of the 
opening of Hayes's administration ? 

2. The appointment of what members of his Cabinet 
seemed to have this tendency ? 

3. What other indications show his desire to pacify 
the South ? 

4. What was the opinion of some Republicans on 
this point, and what were they called ? 

5. State the course of the administration in regard 
to Civil Service Reform. 



118 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

6. Out of what did the most exciting party contest 
of the administration grow ? 

h I. State the substance of the opposition. 

8. State the resistance to the conditions of the bill, 
and give the final result. 

9. What is said of the negro exodus ? 

10. Give an account of the resumption of specie pay- 
ments. 



LESSON IV. 

REFUNDING— TAMMANY INDEPENDENT REPUBLICANS 

NOMINATIONS OF 1880. 

1. Give an account of the refunding. 

2. State the course of the Tammany Society, and the 
effect. 

3. State the course of the Independent Republicans. 

4. Who were the nominees of the Rejmblicans in 
1880? 

5. State the two important features of this Conven- 
tion. 

6. Who were the nominees of the National Party 
(Greenback) ? 

7. What party acquiesced ? 

8. Who were the nominees of the Prohibition Party ? 

9. Who were the nominees of the Democratic Party ? 
10. What course did Tammany pursue at the an- 
nouncement of the nominations ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 



PLATFORMS OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES. 



1789-1799. 
NO PLATFORMS. 



EXTRACT OF KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, NOV. 10, 1798. 

Resolved, That whenever the general government assumes un- 
delegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no 
force; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is 
an integral party; that this government created by this compact 
was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the 
powers delegated to itself, since that would have made its discre- 
tion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but 
that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no 
common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, 
as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress. 



EXTRACT OF VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS, DEC. 24, 1798. 

Resolved, That this assembly doth emphatically and peremp- 
torily declare that it views the powers of the Federal government 
as resulting from the compact to which the States are parties, as 
limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con- 
stituting that compact, as no further valid than they are 
authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that 
in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other 
powers not granted by the said compact, the States who are 
parties thereto have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose 
for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within 
their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties apper- 
taining to them. 



120 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

EXTRACT OF KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, NOV. 14, 1799. 

Resolved, That the several States who formed that instrument 
[Constitution] being sovereign and independent, have the un- 
questionable right to judge of the infraction; and that a nullifica- 
tion, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under 
color of that instrument, is the rightful remedy. 



1800. 
NO FEDERAL PLATFORM. 



REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, PHILADELPHIA. 

1. An inviolable preservation of the Federal Constitution, 
according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the States, 
that in which it was advocated by its friends, and not that which 
its enemies apprehended, who, therefore, became its enemies. 

2. Opposition to monarchizing its features by the forms of its 
administration, with a view to conciliate a transition, first, to a 
President and Senate for life; and, secondly, to an hereditary 
tenure of those offices, and thus to worm out the elective 
principle. 

3. Preservation to the States of the powers not yielded by 
them to the Union, and to the Legislature of the Union its con- 
stitutional share in division of powers; and resistance, therefore, 
to existing movements for transferring all the powers of the 
States to the general government, and all of those of that govern- 
ment to the executive branch. 

4. A rigorously frugal administration of the government, and 
the application of all the possible savings of the public revenue 
to the liquidation of the public debt; and resistance, therefore, to 
all measures looking to a multiplication of officers and salaries, 
merely to create partisans and to augment the public debt, on the 
principle of its being a public blessing. 

5. Reliance for internal defense solely upon the militia, till 
actual invasion, and for such a naval force only as may be suffi- 
cient to protect our coasts and harbors from depredations; and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 

opposition, therefore, to the policy of a standing army in time of 
peace which may overawe the public sentiment, and to a navy, 
which, by its own expenses, and the wars in which it will impli- 
cate us, will grind us with public burdens and sink us under 
them. 

6. Free commerce with all nations, political connection with 
none, and little or no diplomatic establishment. 

7. Opposition to linking ourselves, by new treaties, with the 
quarrels of Europe, entering their fields of slaughter to preserve 
their balance, or joining in the confederacy of kings to war 
against the principles of liberty. 

8. Freedom of religion, and opposition to all maneuvers to 
bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another. 

9. Freedom of speech and of the press; and opposition, there- 
fore, to all violations of the Constitution, to silence, by force, 
and not by reason, the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, 
of our citizens against the conduct of their public agents. 

10. Liberal naturalization laws, under which the well disposed 
of all nations who may desire to embark their fortunes with us 
and share with us the public burdens, may have that opportunity, 
under moderate restrictions, for the development of honest inten- 
tion, and severe ones to guard against the usurpation of our flag. 

11. Encouragement of science and the arts in all their branches, 
to the end that the American people may perfect their independ- 
ence of all foreign monopolies, institutions, and influences. 



1801-1811. 
NO PLATFORMS. 



1812. 
NO REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 



NO FEDERAL PLATFORM. 



122 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

CLINTONIAN PLATFORM, NEW YORK, AUGUST 17. 

1. Opposition to nominations of chief magistrates "by Con- 
gressional caucuses, as well because sucli practices are the ex- 
ercise of undelegated authority, as of their repugnance to the 
freedom of elections. 

2. Opposition to all customs and usages in both the Executive 
and Legislative Departments which have for their object the 
maintenance of an official regency to prescribe tenets of political 
faith, the line of conduct to be deemed fidelity or recreancy to 
Republican principles, and to perpetuate in themselves or fami- 
lies the offices of the Federal Government. 

3. Opposition to all efforts on the part of particular States to 
monopolize the principal offices of the Government, as well be- 
cause of their certainty to destroy the harmony which ought to 
prevail amongst all the constituent parts of the Union, as of their 
leanings toward a form of oligarchy entirely at variance with the 
theory of Republican government; and, consequently, particular 
opposition to continuing a citizen of Virginia in the Executive 
office another term, unless she can show that she enjoys a cor- 
responding monopoly of talents and patriotism, after she has 
been honored with the Presidency for twenty out of twenty-four 
years of our constitutional existence, and when it is obvious that 
the practice has arrayed the agricultural against the commercial 
interests of the country. 

4. Opposition to continuing public men for long periods in 
offices of delicate trust and weighty responsibility as the reward 
of public services, to the detriment of all or any particular in- 
terest in, or section of, the country; and, consequently, to the 
continuance of Mr. Madison in an office which, in view of our 
pending difficulties with Great Britain, requires an incumbent of 
greater decision, energy, and efficiency. 

5. Opposition to the lingering inadequacy of preparation for 
the war with Great Britain, now about to ensue, and to the 
measure which allows uninterrupted trade with Spain and Portu- 
gal, which, as it cannot be carried on under our flag, gives to 
Great Britain the means of supplying her armies' with provisions, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 

of "which they would otherwise be destitute, and thus affording 
aid and comfort to our enemy. 

6. Averment of the existing necessity for placing the country 
in a condition for aggressive action for the conquest of the 
British American Provinces, and for the defense of our coasts 
and exposed frontiers; and of the propriety of such a levy of 
taxes as will raise the necessary funds for the emergency. 

7. Advocacy of the election of De "Witt Clinton as the surest 
method of relieving the country from all the evils existing and 
prospective, for the reason that his great talents and inflexible 
patriotism guarantee a firm and unyielding maintenance of our 
national sovereignty, and the protection of those commercial in- 
terests which were flagging under the weakness and imbecility 
of the administration. 



1815. 

RESOLUTIONS PASSED BY THE HARTFORD CON- 
VENTION, JANUARY 4. 

Resolved, That it be and is hereby recommended to the Legis- 
latures of the several States represented in this Convention, to 
adopt all such measures as may be necessary effectually to pro- 
tect the citizens of said States from the operation and effects of 
all acts which have been or may be passed by the Congress of 
the United States, which shall contain provisions subjecting the 
militia or other cilizens to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or im- 
pressments not authorized by the Constitution of the United 
States. 

Resolved, That it be and is hereby recommended to the said 
Legislatures, to authorize an immediate and an earnest applica- 
tion to be made to the Government of the United States, request- 
ing their consent to some arrangement whereby the said States 
may, separately or in concert, be empowered to assume upon 
themselves the defense of their territory against the enemy, and 
a reasonable portion of the taxes collected within said States may 
be paid into the respective treasuries thereof, and appropriated 
to the balance due said States and to the future defense of the 



124 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

same. The amount so paid into said treasuries to be credited, 
and the disbursements made as aforesaid to be charged to the 
United States. 

Resolved, That it be and hereby is recommended to the Legis- 
latures of the aforesaid States, to pass laws where it has not al- 
ready been done, authorizing the Governors or Commanders-in- 
Chief of their Militia to make detachments from the same, or to 
form volunteer corps, as shall be most convenient and conform- 
able to their Constitutions, and to cause the same to be well 
armed;- equipped, and held in readiness for service, and upon re- 
quest of the Governor of either of the other States, to employ 
the whole of such detachment or corps, as well as the regular 
forces of the State, or such part thereof as may be required, and 
can be spared consistently with the safety of the State, in assist- 
ing the State making such request to repel any invasion thereof 
which shall be made or attempted by the public enemy. 

Eesolved, That the following amendments of the Constitution of 
the United States be recommended to the States represented as 
aforesaid, to be proposed by them for adoption by the State Leg- 
islatures, and in such cases as may be deemed expedient by a con- 
vention chosen by the people of each State. And it is further 
recommended that the said States shall persevere in their efforts 
to obtain such amendments, until the same shall be effected. 

First Kepresentatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 
Union, according to their respective numbers of free persons in- 
cluding those bound to serve for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, and all other persons; 

Second No new State shall be admitted into the Union by 
Congress, in virtue- of the power granted in the Constitution, 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of both houses; 

Third Congress shall not have power to lay an embargo on 
the ships or vessels of the citizens of the United States, in the 
ports or harbors thereof, for more than sixty days; 

Fourth Congress shall not have power, without the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of both houses, to interdict the commercial 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 

intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation or 
the dependencies thereof; 

Fifth. Congress shall not make nor declare war, nor authorize 
acts of hostility against any foreign nation, without the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of both houses, except such acts of hostility 
be in defense of the territories of the United States when actually 
invaded; 

Sixth. No person who shall hereafter be naturalized shall be 
eligible as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives 
of the United States, or capable of holding any civil office under 
the authority of the United States; 

Seventh. The same person shall not be elected President of the 
United States a second time, nor shall the President be elected 
from the same State two terms in succession. 

Resolved, That if the application of these States to the govern- 
ment of the United States, recommended in a foregoing resolu- 
tion, should be unsuccessful, and peace should not be concluded, 
and the defense of these States should be neglected, as it has 
been since the commencement of the war, it will, in the opinion, 
of this convention, be expedient for the legislatures of the several 
States to appoint delegates to another convention, to meet at 
Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, on the third Monday of 
June next, with such powers and instructions as the exigency of 
a crisis so momentous may require. 

Resolved, That the Honorable George Cabot, the Honorable 
Chauncey Goodrich, the Honorable Daniel Lyman, or any two of 
them, be authorized to call another meeting of this convention, 
to be holden in Boston at any time before new delegates shall be 
« chosen as recommended in the above resolution, if in their judg- 
ment the situation of the country shall urgently require it. 



1813-1829. 
NO PLATFORMS. 



126 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

1830. 

ANTI-MASONIC RESOLUTION, PHILADELPHIA, 

SEPTEMBER. 

Resolved, That it is recommended to the people of the United 
States, opposed to secret societies, to meet in convention on 
Monday, the 26th day of September, 1831, at the city of Balti- 
more, by delegates equal in number to their representatives in both 
Houses of Congress, to make nominations of suitable candidates 
for the offices of President and Yice-President, to be supported 
at the next election, and for the transaction of such other 
business as the cause of Anti-Masonry may require. 



1832. 

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT 
A RATIFICATION MEETING AT WASHINGTON 
CITY, MAY 11. 

Resolved, That an adequate protection to American industry is 
indispensable to the prosperity of the country; and that an 
abandonment of the policy at this period would be attended with 
consequences ruinous to the best interests of the nation. 

Resolved, That a uniform system of internal improvements, 
sustained and supported by the general government, is calcu- 
lated to secure, in the highest degree, the harmony, the strength, 
and permanency of the republic. 

Resohed, That the indiscriminate removal of public officers for 
a mere difference of political opinion, is a gross abuse of power; 
and that the doctrine lately boldly preached in the United States 
Senate, that "to the victors belong the spoils of the vanquished," 
is detrimental to the interests, corrupting to the morals, and 
dangerous to the liberties of the country. 



1836. 

LOCOFOCO PLATFORM, NEW YORK, JANUARY. 
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 

created free and equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness; that the true foundation of republican 
government is the equal rights of every citizen in his person and 
property, and in their management; that the idea is quite 
unfounded that on entering into society we give up any natural 
right; that the rightful power of all legislation is to declare and 
enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of 
them from us; that no man has the natural right to commit 
aggressions on the equal rights of another, and this is all from 
which the law ought to restrain him ; that every man is under the 
natural duty of contributing to the necessities of society, and this 
is all the law should enforce on him; that when the laws have 
declared and enforced all this, they have fulfilled their functions. 

We declare unqualified hostility to bank notes and paper 
money as a circulating medium, because gold and silver is the 
only safe and constitutional currency; hostility to any and all 
monopolies by legislation, because they are violations of equal 
rights of the people; hostility to the dangerous and unconstitu- 
tional creation of vested rights or prerogatives by legislation, 
because they are usurpations of the people's sovereign rights; no 
legislative or other authority in the body politic can rightfully, 
by charter or otherwise, exempt any man or body of men, in any 
case whatever, from trial by jury and the jurisdiction or opera- 
tion of the laws which govern the community. 

We hold that each and eveiy law or act of incorporation, 
passed by preceding legislatures, can be rightfully altered and 
repealed by their successors; and that they should be altered or 
repealed, when necessary for the public good, or when required 
by a majority of the people. 



1836. 
"WHIG RESOLUTIONS, ALBANY, W. Y., FEBRUARY 3. 

Resolved, That in support of our cause, we invite all citizens 
opposed to Martin Yan Buren and the Baltimore nominees. 
Resolved, That Martin Yan Bureu, by intriguing with the Ex- 



128 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

ecutive to obtain his influence to elect him to the Presidency, has 
set an example dangerous to our freedom and corrupting to our 
free institutions. 

Resolved, That the support we render to William H. Harrison 
is by no means given to him solely on account of his brilliant 
and successful services as leader of our armies during the last 
war, but that in him we view also the man of high intellect, the 
stern patriot, un contaminated by the machinery of hackneyed 
politicians — a man of the school of Washington. 

Resolved, That in Francis Granger we recognize one of our 
most distinguished fellow-citizens, whose talents we admire, 
whose patriotism we trust, and whose principles we sanction. 



1839. 

ABOLITION RESOLUTION, WARSAW, K T., 

NOVEMBER 13. 

Resolved, That in our judgment, every consideration of duty 
and expediency which ought to control the action of Christian 
freemen, requires of the Abolitionists of the United States to or- 
ganize a distinct and independent political party, embracing all 
the necessary means for nominating candidates for office and sus- 
taining them by public suffrage. 



1840. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, MAY 5. 

1. Resolved, That the Federal Government is one of limited 
powers, derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of 
power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all de- 
partments and agents of the Government, and that it is inexpe- 
dient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 

2. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer upon the 
general Government the power to commence and carry on a gen- 
eral system of internal improvements.' 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 129 

3. Resolved, That the Constitution does not confer authority 
upon the Federal Government, directly or indirectly, to assume 
the debts of the several States, contracted for local internal im- 
provements or other State purposes; nor would such assumption 
be just or expedient. 

4. Resolved, That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal 
Government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of 
another, or to cherish the interests .of one portion to the injury of 
another portion of our common country; that every citizen and 
every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon 
an equality of .rights and privileges, and to complete and ample 
protection of persons and property from domestic violence or 
foreign aggression. 

5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every branch of the Govern- 
ment to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in con- 
ducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to 
be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the 
Government. 

6. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a United 
States bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly 
hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our re- 
publican institutions and the liberties of the people, and calcu- 
lated to place the business of the country within the control of a 
concentrated money power, and above the laws and the will of 
the people. 

7. Resolved, That Congress has no power,under the Constitution, 
to interfere with, or control, the domestic institutions of the sev- 
eral States; and that such States are the sole and proper judges 
of everything pertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by 
the Constitution ; that all efforts, by Abolitionists or others, made 
to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to 
take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to 
the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such 
efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of 
the people, and endanger the stability and permanence of the 
Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our po- 
litical institutions. 



130 HAND-BOOK *OF POLITICAL 

8. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the Govern- 
ment from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of 
the funds of the Government and the rights of the people. 

9. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson 
in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Con- 
stitution, -which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum 
of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal prin- 
ciples in the Democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge the 
present privilege of becoming citizens, and the owners of soil 
among us, ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept 
the Alien and Sedition Laws from our statute book. 

Whereas, Several of the States which have nominated Martin 
Van Buren as a candidate for the Presidency, have put in nomi- 
nation different individuals as candidates for Vice-President, 
thus indicating a diversity of opinion as to the person best 
entitled to the nomination; and whereas, some of the said States 
are not represented in this Convention; therefore, 

Resolved, that the Convention deem it expedient at the present 
time not to choose between the individuals in nomination, 
but to leave the decision to their Republican fellow-citizens 
in the several States, trusting that before the election shall take 
place, their opinions will become so concentrated as to secure 
the choice of a Vice-President by the Electoral College. 



1843. 
LIBERTY PLATFORM, BUFFALO, AUGUST 30. 

1. Resolved, That human brotherhood is a cardinal principle 
of true democracy, as well as of pure Christianity, which spurns 
all inconsistent limitations; and neither the political party which 
repudiates it, nor the political system which is not based upon it, 
can be truly democratic or permanent. 

2. Resolved, That the Liberty Party, placing itself upon this 
broad principle, will demand the absolute and unqualified 
divorce of the general Government from slavery, and also the 
restoration of equality of rights among men, in every State where 
the party exists, or may exist. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 

3. Resolved, That the Liberty Party has not been organized 
for any temporary purpose by interested politicians, but has 
arisen from among the people in consequence of a conviction, 
hourly gaining ground, that no other party in the country repre- 
sents the true principles of American liberty, or the true spirit of 
the Constitution of the United States. 

4. Resolved, That the Liberty Party has not been organized 
merely for the overthrow of slavery; its first decided effort must, 
indeed, be directed against slaveholding as the grossest and most 
revolting manifestation of despotism, but it will also carry out 
the principle of equal rights into all its piactical consequences 
and applications, and support every just measure conducive to 
individual and social freedom. 

5. Resolved, That the Liberty Party is not a sectional party 
but a national party; was not originated in a desire to accomplish 
a single object, but in a comprehensive regard to the great 
interests of the whole country; is not a new party, uor a third 
party, but is the party of 1776, reviving the principles of that 
memorable era, and striving to carry them into practical 
application. 

6. Resolved, That it was understood in the times of the 
Declaration and the Constitution, that the existence of slavery in 
some of the States was in derogation of the principles of 
American liberty, and a deep stain upon the character of the 
country, and the implied faith of the States and the nation was 
pledged that slavery should never be extended beyond its then 
existing limits, but should be gradually, and yet, at no distant 
day, wholly abolished by State authority. 

7. Resolved, That the faith of the States and the nation thus 
pledged, was most nobly redeemed by the voluntary abolition of 
slavery in several of the States, and by the adoption of the 
ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory north-west 
of the river Ohio, then the only territory in the United States* 
and consequently the only territory subject in this respect to the 
control of Congress, by which ordinance slavery was for ever 
excluded from the vast regions which now compose the States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and the territory of Wisconsin, 



132 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

and an incapacity to bear up any other than freemen was 
impressed on the soil itself. 

8. Resolved, That the faith of the States and nation thus 
pledged has been shamefully violated by the omission, on the 
part of many of the States, to take any measures whatever for 
the abolition of slavery within their respective limits; by the con- 
tinuance of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the 
territories of Louisiana and Florida; by the legislation of Con- 
gress; by the protection afforded by national legislation and 
negotiation to slaveholding in American vessels, on the high 
seas, employed in the coastwise slave traffic; and by the exten- 
sion of slavery far beyond its original limits, by acts of Congress 
admitting new slave States into the Union. 

9. Resolved, That the fundamental truth of the Declaration of 
Independence, that all men are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness, was made the fundamental law of our 
national Government, by that amendment of the Constitution 
which declares that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law. 

10. Resolved, That we recognize as sound the doctrine main- 
tained by slaveholding jurists, that slavery is against natural 
rights, and strictly local, and that its existence and continuance 
rests on no other support than State legislation, and not on any 
authority of Congress. 

A. Resolved, That the general Government has, under the Con- 
stitution, no power to establish or continue slavery anywhere, 
and therefore that all treaties and acts of Congress establishing, 
continuing, or favoring slavery in the District of Columbia, in 
the Territory of Florida, or on the high seas, are unconstitutional, 
and all attempts to hold men as property within the limits of 
exclusive national jurisdiction ought to be prohibited by law. 

12. Resolved, That the provision of the Constitution of the 
United States which confers extraordinary political powers on the 
owners of slaves, and thereby constituting the two hundred and 
fifty thousand slaveholders in the slave States a privileged 
aristocracy; and the provision for the reclamation of fugitive 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 

slaves from service, are anti-republican in their character, 
dangerous to the liberties of the people, and ought to be 
abrogated. 

13. Resolved, That the practical operation of the second of 
these provisions is seen in the enactment of the act of Congress 
respecting persons escaping from their masters, which act, if the 
construction given to it by the Supreme Court of the United 
States in the case of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania be correct, nullifies 
the habeas corpus acts of all the States, takes away the whole 
legal security of personal freedom, and ought, therefore, to be 
immediately repealed. 

14. Resolved, That the peculiar patronage and support hitherto 
extended to slavery and slaveholding, by the general Govern- 
ment, ought to be immediately withdrawn, and the example and 
influence of national authority ought to be arrayed on the side of 
liberty and free labor. 

15. Resolved, That the practice of the general Government, 
which prevails in the slave States, of employing slaves upon the 
public works, instead of free laborers, and paying aristocratic 
masters, with a view to secure or reward political services, is 
utterly indefensible and ought to be abandoned. 

16. Resolved, That freedom of speech and of the press, and the 
right of petition, and the right of trial by jury, are sacred and 
inviolable; and that all rules, regulations, and laws, in derogation 
of either, are oppressive, unconstitutional, and not to be endured 
by a free people. 

17. Resolved, That we regard voting, in an eminent degree, as 
a,moral and religious duty; which, when exercised, should be by 
voting for those who will do all in their power for immediate 
emancipation. 

18. Resolved, That this Convention recommend to the friends 
of liberty in all those free States where any inequality of rights 
and privileges exists on account of color, to employ their utmost 
energies to remove all such remnants and effects of the slave 
system. 

Whereas, The Constitution of these United States is a series of 



134 HAND-BOOK OP POLITICAL 

agreements, covenants, or contracts, between the people of the 
United States, each with all, and all with each; and, 

Whereas, It is a principle of universal morality, that the moral 
laws of the Creator are paramount to all human laws; or, in the 
language of an Apostle, that " we ought to obey God rather than 
men;" and, 

Whereas, The principle of common law— that any contract, 
covenant, or agreement, to do an act derogatory to natural right, 
is vitiated and annulled by its inherent immorality— has been recog- 
nized by one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, who in a recent case expressly holds that " any contract 
that rests upon such a basis is void; " and, 

Whereas, The third clause of the second section of the fourth 
article of the Constitution of the United States, when construed 
as providing for the surrender of a fugitive slave, does " rest upon 
such a basis," in that it is a contract to rob a man of a natural 
right— namely, his natural right to his own liberty— and is there- 
fore absolutely void. Therefore, 

19. Resolved, That we hereby give it to be distinctly understood 
by this nation and the world, that, as Abolitionists, considering 
that the strength of our cause lies in its righteousness, and our 
hope for it in our conformity to the laws of God, and our respect 
for the rights of man, we owe it to the Sovereign Ruler of the 
Universe, as a proof of our allegiance to Him, in all our civil 
relations and offices, whether as private citizens, or public func- 
tionaries, sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, 
to regard and to treat the third clause of the fourth article of 
that instrument, whenever applied to the case of a fugitive slave, 
as utterly null and void, and consequently as forming no part of 
the Constitution of the United States, whenever we are called 
upon or sworn to support it. 

20. Resolved, That the power given to Congress by the Consti- 
tution, to provide for calling out the militia to suppress insur- 
rection, does not make it the duty of the Government to main- 
tain slavery by military force ; much less does it make it the duty 
of the citizens to form a part of such military force; when free- 
men unsheathe the sword, it should be to strike for liberty, not 
for despotism. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 

21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace of the citizens, and ae- 
curetbe blessings of freedom, the Legislature of each of the free 
States ought to keep in force suitable statutes rendering it penal 
for any of its inhabitants to transport, or aid in transporting 
from such State, any person sought to be thus transported, 
merely because subject to the Slave Laws of any other State; 
this remnant of independence being accorded to the free States by 
the decision of the Supreme Court, in the case of Prigg vs. The 
State of Pennsylvania. 

1844. 
WHIG PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, MAY 1. 

Resolved, That these principles may be summed as comprising 
a well-regulated national currency: a tariff for revenue to defray 
the necessary expenses of the Government, and discriminating 
with special reference to the protection of the domestic labor of 
the country: the distribution of the proceeds from the sales of 
the public lands; a single term for the Presidency; a reform of 
Executive usurpations; and generally such an administration of 
the affairs of the country as shall impart to every branch of the 
public service the greatest practical efficiency, controlled by a 
well-regulated and wise economy. 



1844. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, MAY 27. 

Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, of the platform of 1840, 
were reaffirmed, to which were added the following: 

10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be 
sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the Constitu- 
tion, and that we are opposed to the laws lately adopted, and to 
any 'law for the distribution of such proceeds among the States, 
as alike inexpedient in policy, and repugnant to the Constitution. 

11. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking frcm 
the President the qualified veto power by which he is enabled, 
under restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard 



136 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

the public interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits 
cannot secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be ob- 
tained thereon, and which has thrice saved the American people 
from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the bank of the 
United States. 

12. Resolved, That our title to the whole of the territory of 
Oregon is clear and unquestionable; that no portion of the same 
ought to be ceded to England or any other power, and that the 
reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation of Texas at the 
earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which 
this Convention recommends to the cordial support of the Demo- 
cracy of the Union. 



1848. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, MAY 22. 

1. Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust in 
the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of 
the American people. 

2. Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our 
political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the 
world, as the great moral element in a form of government 
springing from and upheld by the popular will; and contrast it 
with the creed and practice of Federalism, under whatever name 
or form, which seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, and 
which conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular 
credulity. 

3. Resolved, Therefore, that entertaining these views, the 
Democratic Party of this Union, through the delegates assembled 
in general convention of the States, coming together in a spirit 
of concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free 
representative government, and appealing to their fellow-citizens 
for the rectitude of their intentions, renew and reassert before 
the American people, the declaration of principles avowed by 
them on a former occasion, when, in general convention, they 
presented their candidates for the popular suffrage. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 

Resolutions 1, 2, 3, and 4, of the platform of 1840, were 
reffirmed. 

8. Resolved, That it is the duly of every branch of the Govern- 
ment to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conduct- 
ing our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be 
raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the 
Government, and for the gradual but certain extinction of the 
debt created by the prosecution of a just and necessary war, after 
peaceful relations shall have been restored. 

Kesolution 5, of the Platform of 1840, was enlarged by the 
following: 

And that the results of Democratic legislation, in this and all 
other financial measures, upon which issues have been made 
between the two political parties of the country, have demon- 
strated to careful and practical men of all parties, their sound- 
ness, safety and utility in all business pursuits. 

Eesolutions 7, 8, and 9, of the Platform of 1840, were here 
inserted. 

13. Besohed, That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be 
sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the Constitu- 
tion ; and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of 
such proceeds among the States as alike inexpedient in policy 
and repugnant to the Constitution. 

14. Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the 
President the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, 
under restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard 
the public interests, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits 
cannot secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and ' 
House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can , 
be obtained thereon, and which has saved the American people J 
from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the 
United States, and from a corrupting system of general internal' 
improvements. 

15. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, provoked on her part 
by years of insult and injury, was commenced by her army 

. crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the American troops, and 



138 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

invading our sister State of Texas, and upon all the principles of 
patriotism and the laws of nations, it is a just and necessary war 
on our part, in which every American citizen should have shown 
himself on the side of his country, and neither morally nor 
physically, by word or hy deed, have given " aid and comfort to 
the enemy." 

16. Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at the assurance' of 
peace with Mexico, founded on the just principles of indemnity 
for the past and security for the future; but that while the ratifi- 
cation of the liberal treaty offered to Mexico remains in doubt, it 
is the duty of the country to sustain the administration and to 
sustain the country in every measure necessary to provide for the 
vigorous prosecution of the war, should that treaty be rejected. 

17. Resolved, That the officers and soldiers who have carried the 
arms of their country into Mexico, have crowned it with imperish- 
able glory. Their unconquerable courage, their daring enterprise, 
their unfaltering perseverance and fortitude when assailed on 
all sides by innumerable foes and that more formidable enemy— 
the diseases of the climate— exalt their devoted patriotism into 
the highest heroism, and give them a right to the profound 
gratitude of their country, and the admiration of the world. 

18. Resolved, That the Democratic National Convention of 
thirty States composing the American Eepublic, tender their 
fraternal congratulations to the National Convention of the 
Republic of France, now assembled, as the free suffrage repre- 
sentative of the sovereignty of thirty-five millions of republi- 
cans, to establish government on those eternal principles of equal 
rights, for which their La Fayette and our Washington fought 
side by side in the struggle for our national independence; and 
we would especially convey to them, and to the whole people of 
France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation of their liberties, 
through the wisdom that shall guide their counsels, on the basis 
of a democratic constitution, not derived from the grants or con- 
cessions of kings or dynasties, but originating from the only true 
source of political power recognized in the States of this Union — 
the inherent and inalienable right of the people, in their 
sovereign capacity, to make and to amend their forms of govern- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 

ment in such manner as the welfare of the community may- 
require. 

19. Resolved, That in view of the recent development of this 
grand political truth, of the sovereignty of the people and their 
capacity and power for self-government, which is prostrating 
thrones and erecting republics on the ruins of despotism in the 
Old World, we feel that a high and sacred duty is devolved, with 
increased responsibility, upon the Democratic Party of this 
country, as the party of the people, to sustain and advance 
among us Constitutional liberty, equality, and fraternity, by 
continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for 
the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, and by a 
vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and com- 
promises of the Constitution, which are broad enough and strong 
enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as 
it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full expansion of the 
energies and capacity of this great and progressive people. 

20. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded, 
through the American Minister at Paris, to the National Conven- 
tion of the Republic of France. 

21. Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph of 
1844, which elected. James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, 
President and Vice-President of the United States, have fulfilled, 
the hopes of the Democracy of the Union in defeating the 
declared purposes of their opponents in creating a National 
Bank; in preventing the corrupt and unconstitutional distribution 
of the land proceeds from the common treasury of the Union for 
local purposes; in protecting the currency and labor of the 
country from ruinous fluctuations, and guarding the money of 
the country for the use of the people by the establishment of the 
Constitutional treasury; in the noble impulse given to the cause 
of free trade by the repeal of the tariff of 1S42, and the creation 
of the more equal, honest, and productive tariff of 1846; and 
that, in our opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken the 
bands of a political organization by which these great reforms 
have been achieved, and risk them in the hands of their known 
adversaries, with whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our 
surrender of that vigilance which is the only safeguard of liberty. 



140 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 1 

22. Resolved, That the confidence of the Democracy of the Union 
in the principles, capacity, firmness, and integrity of James K. 
Polk, manifested by his nomination and election in 1844, has 
been signally justified by the strictness of his adherence to sound 
Democratic doctrines, by the purity of purpose, the energy, and 
ability which have characterized his administration in all our 
affairs at home and abroad ; that we tender to him our cordial 
congratulations upon the brilliant success which has hitherto 
crowned his patriotic efforts, and assure him in advance, that at 
the expiration of his Presidential term he will carry with him to 
his retirement the esteem, respect, and admiration of a grateful 
country. 

23. Resolved, That this Convention hereby present to the people 
of the United States Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate 
of the Democratic Party for the office of President, and William 
O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President of the United States. 



1848. 

WHIG PRINCIPLES ADOPTED AT A RATIFICATION 
MEETING PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 9. 

1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States, here as- 
sembled by their representatives, heartily ratify the nominations 
of General Zachary Taylor as President, and Millard Fillmore as 
Vice-President, of the United States, and pledge themselves to 
their support. 

2. Resolved, That in the choice of General Taylor as the Whig 
candidate for President, we are glad to discover sympathy with 
a great popular sentiment throughout the nation — a sentiment 
which, having its origin in admiration of great military success, 
has been strengthened by the development, in every action and 
every word, of sound conservative opinions, and of true fidelity 
to the great example of former days, and to the principles of the 
Constitution as administered by its founders. 

3. Resolved, That General Taylor, in saying that had he voted 
in 1844, he would have voted the Whig ticket, gives us the as- 
surance — and no better is needed from a consistent and truth- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 141 

speaking man— that his heart was with us at the crisis of our po- 
litical destiny, when Henry Clay was our candidate, and when 
not only Whig principles were well defined and clearly asserted, 
but Whig measures depended on success. The heart that was 
with us then is with us now, and we have a soldier's word of 
honor, and a life of public and private virtue, as the security. 

4. Resolved, That we look on General Taylor's administration 
of the Government as one conducive of peace, prosperity, and 
union: of peace, because no one better knows, or has greater 
reason to deplore, what he has seen sadly on the field of victory, 
the horrors of war, and especially of a. foreign and aggressive 
war; of prosperity, now more than ever needed to relieve the 
nation from a burden of debt and restore industry— agricultural, 
manufacturing, and commercial— to its accustomed and peaceful 
functions and influences; of union, because we have a candidate 
whose very position as a Southwestern man, reared on the banks 
of the great stream whose tributaries, natural and artificial, em- 
brace the whole Union, renders the protection of the interests of 
the whole country his first trust, and whose various duties in 
past life have been rendered, not on the soil, or under the flag of 
any State or section, but over the wide frontier and under the 
broad banner of the nation. 

5. Resolved, That standing, as the Whig Party does, on the 
broad and firm platform of the Constitution, braced up by all its 
inviolable and sacred guarantees and compromises, and cherished 
in the affections, because protective of the interests of the people, 
we are proud to have as the exponent of our opinions one who 
is pledged to construe it by the wise and generous rules which 
Washington applied to it, and who has said— and no Whig de- 
sires any other assurance— that he will make Washington's ad- 
ministration the model of his own. 

6. Resolved, Th/it as Whigs and Americans, we are proud to 
acknowledge our gratitude for the great military services which, 
beginning at Palo Alto, and ending at Buena Vista, first awak- 
ened the American people to a just estimate of him who is now 
our Whig candidate. In the discharge of a painful duty— for 
his march into the enemy's country was a reluctant one; in the 
command of regulars at one time,, and volunteers at another, and 



142 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

of both combined ; in the decisive though punctual discipline of 
his camp, where all respected and loved him ; in the negotiation 
of terms for a dejected and desperate enemy; in the exigency of 
actual conflict when. the balance was perilously doubtful— we 
have found him the same— brave, distinguished, and considerate, 
no heartless spectator of bloodshed, no trifler with human life or 
human happiness; and we do not know which to admire most, 
his heroism in withstanding the assaults of the enemy in the 
most hopeless fields of Buena Vista— mourning in generous sor- 
row over the graves of Ringgold, of Clay, or of Hardin — or in 
giving, in the heat of battle, terms of merciful capitulation to a 
vanquished foe at Monterey, and not being ashamed to avow that 
he did it to spare women and children, helpless infancy and 
more helpless age, against whom no American soldier ever wars. 
Such a military man, whose triumphs are neither remote nor 
doubtful, whose virtues these trials have tested, we are proud to 
make our candidate. 

7. Besohed, That in support of this nomination we ask our 
Whig friends throughout the nation to unite, to co-operate zeal- 
ously, resolutely, with earnestness, in behalf of our candidate, 
whom calumny cannot reach, and with respectful demeanor to 
our adversaries, whose candidates have yet to prove their claims 
on the gratitude of the nation. 



1848. 

BUFFALO PLATFORM, UTICA, JUNE 22. 

WJiereas, We have assembled in convention, as a union of 
freemen, for the sake of freedom, forgetting all past political 
difference, in a common resolve to maintain the rights of free 
labor against the aggression of the slave power, and to secure free 
soil to a free people ; and * 

Whereas, The political conventions recently assembled at 
Baltimore and Philadelphia — the one stifling the voice of a great 
constituency, entitled to be heard in its deliberations, and the 
other abandoning its distinctive principles for mere availability — 
have dissolved the National Party organization heretofore exist- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 

ing, by nominating for the Chief Magistracy of the United States, 
under the slaveholding dictation, candidates, neither of whom 
can be supported by the opponents of slavery extension, without 
a sacrifice of consistenc} r , duty, and self-respect; and, 

Whereas, These nominations so made furnish the occasion, 
and demonstrate the necessity of the union of the people under 
the banner of free democracy, in a solemn and formal declara- 
tion of their independence of the slave power, and of their fixed 
determination to rescue the Federal Government from its con- 
trol. 

1. Resolved therefore, That we, the people here assembled, re- 
membering the example of our fathers in the days of the 
first Declaration of Independence, putting our trust in God for 
the triumph of our cause, and invoking His guidance in our en- 
deavors to advance it, do now plant ourselves upon the national 
platform of freedom, in opposition to the sectional platform of 
slavery. 

2. Resolved, That slavery in the several States of this Union 
which recognize its existence, depends upon State laws alone, 
which cannot be repealed or modified by the Federal Govern- 
ment, and for which, laws that Government is not responsible. 
We therefore propose no interference by Congress with slavery 
within the limits of any State. 

3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the ex- 
istence of slavery, after 1800, in all the Territories of the United 
States Southern and Northern; the votes of six States and six- 
teen delegates, in the Congress of 1784, for the proviso, to three 
States and seven delegates against it; the actual exclusion of 
slavery from the Northwestern Territory by the Ordinance of 
1787, unanimously adopted by the States in Congress; and the 
entire history of that period, clearly show that it was the settled 
policy of the nation not to extend, nationalize, or encourage, but 
to limit, localize, and discourage, slavery; and to this policy, 
which should never have been departed from, the Government 
ought to return. 

4. Resolved. That our fathers ordained the Constitution of the 
United States, in order, among other great national objects, to 



144 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

establish justice, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty; but expressly denied to the Federal Govern- 
merit, which they created, all Constitutional power to deprive 
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due legal 
process. 

5. Resolved, That in the judgment of this Convention, Con- 
gress has no more power to make a slave than to make a king; 
no more power to institute or establish slavery than to institute 
or establish a monarchy; no such power can be found among 
those specifically conferred by the Constitution, or deprived by 
just implication from them. 

6. Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to 
relieve itself from all responsibility for the. existence or continu- 
ance of slavery wherever the Government possesses Constitu- 
tional authority to legislate on that subject, and it is thus re- 
sponsible for its existence. 

7. Resolved, That the true, and, in the judgment of this Con- 
vention, the only safe means of preventing the extension of 
slavery into territory now free, is to prohibit its extension in all 
such territory by an act of Congress. 

8. Resolved, That we accept the issue which the slave power 
has forced upon us; and to their demand for more slave States, 
and more slave Territory, our calm but final answer is, no more 
glave States and no more slave Territory. Let the soil of our ex- 
tensive domains be kept free for the hardy pioneers of our own 
land, and the oppressed and banished of other lands, seeking 
homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in the New World. 

9. Resolved, That the bill lately reported by the Committee of 
Eight in the Senate of the United States was no compromise, 
but an absolute surrender of the rights of the non-slaveholders of 
all the States; and while we rejoice to know that a measure 
which, while opening the door for the introduction of slavery 
into the Territories now free, would also have opened the door to 
litigation and strife among the future inhabitants thereof, to the 
ruin of their peace and prosperity, was defeated in the House of 
Representatives, its passage, in hot haste, by a majority, em- 
bracing several Senators who voted in open violation of the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 

known will of their constituents, should warn the people to see 
to it that their representatives be not suffered to betray them. 
There must be no more compromises with slavery; if made, 
they must be repealed. 

10. Resolved, That we demand freedom and established institu- 
tions for our brethren in Oregon, now exposed to hardships, 
peril, and massacre, by the reckless hostility of the slave power 
to the establishment of free Government and free Territories; 
and not only for them, but for our brethren in California and 
New Mexico. 

11. Resolved, It is due, not only to this occasion, but to the 
whole people of the United States, that we should also declare 
ourselves on certain other questions of national policy; there- 
fore, 

12. Resolved, That we demand cheap postage for the people; a 
retrenchment of the expenses and patronage of the Federal Gov- 
ernment; the abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries; 
and tbe election by the people of all civil officers in the service 
of the Government, so far as the same may be practicable. 

13. Resolved, That river and harbor improvements, when de- 
manded by the safety and convenience of commerce with foreign 
nations, or among the several States, are objects of national con- 
cern, and that it is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its 
Constitutional power, to provide therefor. 

14. Resolved, That the free grant to actual settlers, in con- 
sideration of the expenses they incur in making settlements in 
the wilderness, which are usually fully equal to their actual cost, 
and of the public benefits resulting therefrom, of reasonable 
portions of the public lands, under suitable limitations, is a wise^ 
and just measure of public policy, which will promote in various 
ways the interests of all the States of this Union ; and we, there- 
fore, recommend it to the favorable consideration of the Ameri- 
can people. 

15. Resolved, That the obligations of honor and patriotism 
require the earliest practical payment of the national debt, and 
we are, therefore, in favor of such a tariff of duties as will raise 
revenue adequate to defray the necessary expenses of the Federal 



146 ;hand-book of political 

Government, and to pay annual installments of our debt and the 
interest thereon. 

16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our banner, "Free Soil, 
Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men," and under it we will 
fight on, and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward 
our exertions. 



1852. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, JUNE 1. 

Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of the platform of 1848, were 
reaffirmed, to which were added the following: 

8. Resolved, That it is the' duty of every branch of the govern- 
ment to enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conduct- 
ing our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be 
raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the 
government, and for the gradual but certain extinction of the 
public debt. 

9. Resolved, That Congress has no power to charter a National 
Bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility 
to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican 
institutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to 
place the business of the country within the control of a concen- 
trated money power, and that above the laws and the will of the 
people; and that the results of Democratic legislation, in this and 
all other financial measures, upon which issues have been made 
between the two political parties of the country, have demon- 
strated to candid and practical men of all parties, their sound- 
ness, safety, and utility, in all business pursuits. 

10. Resolved, That the separation of the moneys of the govern- 
ment from banking institutions is indispensable for the safely of 
the funds of the government and the rights of the people. 

11. Resolved, That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson 
in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Con- 
stitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum 
of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 

principles in the Democratic faith ; and every attempt to abridge 
the privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of the soil 
among us, ought be resisted with the same spirit that swept the 
Alien and Sedition laws from our statute, book. 

12. Resolved, That Congress has no power under the Constitu- 
tion to interfere with, or control, the domestic institutions of the 
several States, and that such States are the sole and proper 
judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not pro- 
hibited by the Constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists 
or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of 
slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are 
calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous conse- 
quences ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to 
diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability 
and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced 
by any friend of our political institutions. 

13. Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, and is 
intended to embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in 
Congress; and therefore the Democratic Party of the Union, 
standing on this national platform, will abide by, and adhere to, 
a faithful execution of the acts known as the Compromise 
measures settled by the last Congress, "the act for reclaiming 
fugitives from service or labor" included; which act, being 
designed to carry out an express provision of the Constitution, 
cannot, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, nor so changed as to 
destroy or impair its efficiency. 

14. Resolved, That the Democratic Party will resist all attempts 
at renewing in Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the slavery 
question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be 
made. 

[Here resolutions 13 and 14, of the platform of 1848, were 
inserted.] 

17. Resolved, That the Democratic Party will faithfully abide 
by and uphold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and 
Yirginia resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. 
Madison to the Yirginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts those 
principles as constituting one of the main foundations of its 



148 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

political creed, and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious 
meaning and import. 

18. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all the principles 
of patriotism and the law of nations, was a just and necessary 
war on our part, in which no American citizen should have 
shown himself opposed to his country, and neither morally nor 
physically, by word or deed, given aid and comfort to the 
enemy. 

19. Resolved, That we rejoice at the restoration of friendly 
relations with our sister Republic of Mexico, and earnestly desire 
for her all the blessings and prosperity which we enjoy under 
republican institutions; and we congratulate the American 
people on the results of that war, which have so manifestly justi- 
fied the policy and conduct of the Democratic Party, and insured 
to the United States indemnity for the past and security for the 
future. 

20. Resolved, That, in view of the condition of popular institu- 
tions in the Old World, a high and sacred duty is devolved with 
increased responsibility upon the Democracy of this country, as 
the party of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of every 
State, and thereby the union of States, and to sustain and 
advance among them constitutional liberty, by continuing to 
resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of 
the few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and 
constant adherence to those principles and compromises of the 
Constitution which are broad enough and strong enough to 
embrace and uphold the Union as it is, and the Union as it 
should be, in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of 
this great and progressive people. 



1852. 

WHIG PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, JUNE 16. 

The Whigs of the United States, in convention assembled, 
adhering to the great conservative principles by which they are 
-controlled and governed, and now as ever relying upon the 
intelligence of the American people, with an abiding confidence 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 149 

in their capacity for self-government and their devotion to the 
Constitution and the Union, do proclaim the following as the 
political sentiments and determination for the establishment and 
maintenance of which their national organization as a party was 
effected : 

First. The Government of the United States is of a limited 
character, and is confined to the exercise of powers expressly 
granted by the Constitution, and such as may be necessary and 
proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and 
that powers not granted or necessarily implied are reserved to 
the States respectively and to the people. 

Second. The State governments should be held secure to their 
reserved rights, and the General Government sustained in its 
constitutional powers, and that the Union should be revered and 
watched over as the palladium of our liberties. 

Third. That while struggling freedom everywhere enlists the 
warmest sympathy of the Whig Party, we still adhere to the 
doctrines of the Father of his Country, as announced in his 
Farewell Address, of keeping ourselves from all entangling 
alliances with foreign countries; and of never quitting our own 
to stand upon foreign ground ; that our mission as a republic is 
not to propagate our opinions, or impose on other countries our 
forms of government, by artifice or force, but to teach by example, 
and show by our success, moderation, and justice, the blessings 
of self-government, and the advantages of free institutions. 

Fourth. That, as the people make and control the government, 
they should obey its Constitution, laws, and treaties as they 
would retain their self-respect, and the respect which they claim 
and will enforce from foreign powers. 

Fifth. Governments should be conducted on the principles of 
the strictest economy; and revenue sufficient for the expenses 
thereof, in time of peace, ought to be derived mainly from a duty 
on imports, and not from direct taxes ; and on laying such duties 
sound policy requires a just discrimination, and, when practi- 
cable, by specific duties, whereby suitable encouragement may be 
afforded to American industry, equally to all classes and to all 
portions of the country. 



150 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Sixth. The Constitution vests in Congress the power to open 
and repair harbors, and remove obstructions from navigable 
rivers, whenever such improvements are necessary for the com- 
mon defense, and for the protection and facility of commerce 
with foreign nations or among the States, said improvements 
being in every instance national and general in their character. 

Seventh. The Federal and State Governments are parts of one 
system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, peace, and 
security, and ought to be regarded alike with a cordial, habitual, 
and immovable attachment. Respect for the authority of each, 
and acquiescence in the just constitutional measures of each, are 
duties required by the plainest considerations of national, State, 
and individual welfare. 

Eighth. That the series of acts of the 32d Congress, the act 
known as the Fugitive Slave Law included, are received and 
acquiesced in by the Whig Party of the United States as a settle- 
ment in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting 
questions which they embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, 
we will maintain them, and insist upon their strict enforcement, 
until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of 
further legislation to guard against the evasion of the laws on the 
one hand and the abuse of their powers on the other — not 
impairing their present efficiency; and we deprecate all further 
agitation of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, 
and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such 
agitation whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be 
made; and we will maintain the system as essential to the 
nationality of the Whig Party and the integrity of the Union, 



1852. 
FREE-SOIL PLATFORM, PITTSBURG, AUGUST 11. 

Having assembled in national convention as the Democracy of 
the United States, united by a common resolve to maintain right 
against wrong, and freedom against slavery; confiding in the 
intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating justice of the 
American people; putting our trust in God for the triumph of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 151 

our cause, and invoking His guidance in our endeavors to 

advance it, we now submit to the candid judgment of all men, 

the following declaration of principles and measures: 

i 1. That governments, deriving their just powers from the 

(consent of the governed, are instituted among men to secure to 

: all those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 

happiness, with which they are endowed by their Creator, and of 

which none can be deprived by valid legislation, except for 

crime. 

2. That the true mission of American Democracy is to main- 
tain the liberties of the people, the sovereignty of the States, and 
the perpetuity of the Union, by the impartial application to 
public affairs, without sectional discriminations, of the funda- 
mental principles of human rights, strict justice, and an 
economical administration. 

3. That the Federal Government is one of limited powers, 
derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power 
therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and 
agents of the government, and it is inexpedient and dangerous 
to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 

4 That the Constitution of the United States, ordained to form 
a more perfect Union, to establish justice, and secure the bless- 
ings of liberty, expressly denies to the general government all 
power to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law; and, therefore, the Government, having no 
more power to make a slave than to make a king, and no more 
power to establish slavery than to establish a monarchy, should 
at once proceed to relieve itself from all responsibility for the 
existence of slavery, wherever it possesses constitutional power 
to legislate for its extinction. 

5. That, to the persevering and importunate demands of the 
slave power for more slave States, new slave Territories, and the 
nationalization of slavery, our distinct and final answer is— No 
more slave States, no slave Territory, no nationalized slavery, 
and no nationaUegislation for the extradition of slaves. 

6. That slavery is a sin against God and a crime against man, 
which no human enactment nor usage can make right; and that 



152 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Christianity, humanity, and patriotism alike demand its 
abolition. 

7. That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is repugnant to the 
Constitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit 
of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world; we, 
therefore, deny its binding force on the American people, and 
demand its immediate and total repeal. 

8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and 
not subject to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with 
the creed of the founders of our Government, and is dangerous 
to the liberties of the people. 

9. That the Acts of Congress, known as the Compromise Mea- 
sures of 1850, by making the admission of a sovereign State con- 
tingent upon the adoption of other measures demanded by the 
special interests of slavery; by their omission to guarantee free- 
dom in the free Territories; by their attempt to impose uncon- 
stitutional limitations on the powers of Congress and the people 
to admit new States; by their provisions for the assumption of 
five millions of the State debt of Texas, and for the payment 
of five millions more, and the cession of large Territory to the 
same State under menace, as an inducement to the relinquish- 
ment of a groundless claim; and by their invasion of the sove- 
reignty of the States and the liberties of the people, through the 
enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional Fugi- 
tive Slave Law, are proved to be inconsistent with all the princi- 
ples and maxims of Democracy, and wholly inadequate to the 
settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an 
adjustment. 

10. That no permanent settlement of the slavery question can 
be looked for except in the practical recognition of the truth that 
slavery is sectional and freedom national, by the total separation 
of the general Government from slavery, and the exercise of its 
legitimate and constitutional influence on the side of freedom; 
and by leaving to the States the whole subject of slavery and the 
extradition of fugitives from service. 

11. That all men have a natural right to a portion of the soil; 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 153 

end that as the use of the soil is indispensable to life, the right 
of all men to the soil is as sacred as their right to life itself. 

12. That the public lands of the United States belong to the 
people, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to cor- 
porations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of 
the people, and should be granted in limited quantities, free of 
cost, to landless settlers. 

13. That due regard for the Federal Constitution, a sound ad- 
ministrative policy, demand that the funds of the general Gov- 
ernment be kept separate from banking institutions; that inland 
and ocean postage should be reduced to the lowest possible 
point; that no more revenue should be raised than is required to 
defray the strictly necessary expenses of the public service and 
to pay off the public debt; and that the power and patronage of 
the Government should be diminished by the abolition of all un- 
necessary offices, salaries, and privileges, and by the election by 
the people of all civil officers in the service of the United States, 
so far as may be consistent with the prompt and efficient trans- 
action of the public business. 

14. That river and harbor improvements, when necessary to 
the safety and convenience of commerce with foreign nations, or 
among the several States, are ohjects of national concern; audit 
is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of its constitutional 
powers, to provide for the same. 

15. That emigrants and exiles from the Old World should find 
a cordial welcome to homes of comfort and fields of enterprise 
iu the New; and every attempt to abridge their privilege of be- 
coming citizens and owners of soil among us ought to be resisted 
with inflexible determination. 

16. That every nation has a clear right to alter or change its 
own government, and to administer its own concerns in such 
manner as may best secure the rights and promote the happiness 
of the people; and foreign interference with that right is a 
dangerous violatiou of the law of nations, against which all in- 
dependent governments should protest, and endeavor by all 
proper means to prevent ; and especially is it the duty of the 
American Government, representing the chief republic of the 



154 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

world, to protest against, and by all proper means to prevent, 
the intervention of kings and emperors against nations seeking to 
establish for themselves republican or constitutional govern- 
ments. 

17. That the independence of Hayti ought to be recognized by 
our Government, and our commercial relations with it placed on 
the footing of the most favored nations. 

18. That as by the Constitution, "the citizens of each State 
shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens 
in the several States," the practice of imprisoning colored seamen 
of other States, while the vessels to which they belong lie in port, 
and refusing the exercise of the right to bring such cases before 
the Supreme Court of the United States, to test the legality of 
such proceedings, is a flagrant violation of the Constitution, and 
an invasion of the rights of the citizens of other States, utterly 
inconsistent with the professions made by the slaveholders, that 
they wish the provisions of the Constitution faithfully observed 
by every State in the Union. 

19. That we recommend the introduction into all treaties here- 
after to be negotiated between the United States and foreign na- 
tions, of some provision for the amicable settlement of diffi- 
culties by a resort to decisive arbitrations. 

20. That the Free Democratic Party is not organized to aid 
either the Whig or Democratic wing of the great slave compro- 
mise party of the nation, but to defeat them both ; and that re- 
pudiating and renouncing both as hopelessly corrupt and utterly 
unworthy of confidence, the purpose of the Free Democracy is 

: to take possession of the Federal Government and administer it 
for the better protection of the rights and interests of the whole 
people. 

21. That we inscribe on our banner Free Soil, Free Speech, 
Free Labor, and Free Men, and under it will fight on and fight 
ever, until a triumphant victory shall reward our exertions. 

22. That upon this platform, the Convention presents to the 
American people, as a candidate for the office of President of 
the United States, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and as a 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 

candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States, 
George "W. Julian, of Indiana, and earnestly commends them to 
the support of all freemen and all parties. 



1856. 

THE AMERICAN PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT PHILA- 
DELPHIA, FEBRUARY 21. 

1. An humble acknowledgment to the Supreme Being for His 
protecting care vouchsafed to our fathers in their successful 
revolutionary struggle, and hitherto manifested to us, their de 
scendents, in the preservation of the liberties, the independence, 
and the union of these States. 

2. The perpetuation of the Federal Union and Constitution, 
as the palladium of our civil and religious liberties, and the only 
sure bulwarks of American independence. 

3. Americans must rule America; and to this end native-horn 
citizens should be selected for all State, Federal, and Municipal 
offices of government employment, in preference to all others. ' 
Nevertheless, 

4. Persons bora of American parents residing temporarily 
abroad should be entitled to all the rights of native-born 
citizens. 

5. No person should be selected for political station (whether 
of native or foreign birth) who recognizes any allegiance or 
obligation of any description to any foreign prince, potentate, or 
power, or who refuses to recognize the Federal and State Consti- 
tutions (each within its sphere) as paramount to all other laws, as 
rules of political action. 

6. The unequaled recognition and maintenance of the reserved 
rights of the several States, and the cultivation of harmony and 
fraternal good-will between the citizens of the several States, and, 
to this end, non-interference by Congress with questions apper- 
taining solely to the individual States, and non-intervention by 
each State with the affairs of any other State. 



156 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

7. The recognition of the right of native-born and naturalized 
citizens of the United States, permanently residing in any 
Territory thereof, to frame their Constitution and laws, and to 
regulate their domestic and social affairs, in their own mode, 
subject only to the provisions of the Federal Constitution, with 
the privilege of admission into the Union whenever they have the 
requisite population for one representative in Congress: Pro- 
vided, always, that none but those who are citizens of the United 
States under the Constitution and laws thereof, and who have a 
fixed residence in any such Territory, ought to participate in the 
formation of the Constitution or in the enactment of laws for 
said Territory or State. 

8. An enforcement of the principles that no State or Territory 
ought to admit others than citizens to the right of suffrage or of 
holding political offices of the United States. 

9. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continued 
residence of twenty-one years, of all not heretofore provided for, 
an indispensable requisite for citizenship hereafter, and exclud- 
ing all paupers and persons convicted of crime from landing 
upon our shores; but no interference with the vested rights of 
foreigners. 

10. Opposition to any union between Church and State; no 
interference with religious faith or worship; and no test-oaths for 
office. 

11. Free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged 
abuses of public functionaries, and a strict economy in public 
expenditures. 

12. The maintenance and enforcement of all laws constitut- 
tionally enacted, until said laws shall be repealed, or shall be 
declared null aDd void by competent judicial authority. 

13. Opposition to the reckless and unwise policy of the present 
administration in the general management of our national affairs, 
and more especially as shown in removing "Americans " (by 
designation) and conservatives in principle, from office, and 
placing foreigners and ultraists in their places; as shown m a 
truckling subserviency to the stronger, and an insolent and cow- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 157 

ardly bravado towards the weaker powers; as shown in reopen- 
ing sectional agitation, by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; 
as shown in granting to unnaturalized foreigners the right of 
suffrage in Kansas and Nebraska; as shown in its vacillating 
course on the Kansas and Nebraska question; as shown in the 
corruptions wbich pervade some of the departments of the 
government; as shown in disgracing meritorious naval officers 
through prejudice or caprice; and as shown in the blundering 
mismanagement of our foreign relations. 

14. Therefore, to remedy existing evils and prevent the disas- 
trous consequences .otherwise resulting therefrom, we would 
build up the "American Party" upon the principles hereinbefore 
stated. 

15. That each State council shall have authority to amend 
their several constitutions, so as to abolish the several degrees, 
and substitute a pledge of honor, instead of other obligations, for 
fellowship and admission into the party. 

16. A free and open discussion of all political principles 
embraced in our platform. 



1856. 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT CINCINNATI, 

JUNE 6. 

Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust in 
the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of 
the American people. 

Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our 
political creed, which we are proud to maintain before the world 
as a great moral element in a form of government springing from 
and upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with the 
creed and practice of federalism, under whatever name or form, 
which seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, and which con- 
ceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. 

Resolved, therefore, That, entertaining these views, the Demo- 
cratic Party of this Union, through their delegates, assembled in 



15 8 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

general convention, coming together in a spirit of concord, of 
devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free representative gov- 
ernment, and appealing to their fellow citizens for the rectitude 
of their intentions, renew and reassert, before the American 
people, the declaration of principles avowed by them, when, on 
former occasions, in general convention, they have presented 
their candidates for the popular suffrage. 

1. That the Federal Government is one of limited power, 
derived solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power 
made therein ought to be strictly construed by all the depart- 
ments and agents of the Government, and tfrat it is inexpedient 
and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers. 

2. That the Constitution does not confer upon the general 
government the power to commence and carry on a general 
system of internal improvements. 

3. That the Constitution does not confer authority upon the 
Federal Government, directly or indirectly, to assume the debts 
of the several States, contracted for local and internal improve- 
ments or other State purposes; nor would such assumption be 
just or expedient. 

4. That justice and sound policy forbid the Federal Govern- 
ment to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of another, 
or to cherish the interests of one portion of our common country; 
that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to 
demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and 
a complete and ample protection of persons and property from 
domestic violence and foreign aggression. 

5. That it is the duty of every branch of the Government to 
enforce and practice the most rigid economy in conducting our 
public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than 
is required to defray the necessary expenses of the Government 
and gradual but certain extinction of the public debt. 

6 That the proceeds of the public lands ought to be sacredly 
applied to the national objects specified in the Constitution, and 
that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such pro- 
ceeds among the States, as alike inexpedient in policy and re- 
pugnant to the Constitution. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 159 

7. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank; 
that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the 

' best interests of this country, dangerous to our Republican insti- 
tutions and the liberties of the people, and calculated to place 
the business of the country within the control of a concentrated 
money power and above the laws and will of the people; and 

* the results of the Democratic legislation in this, and all other 
financial measures upon which issues have been made between 
the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to 
candid and practical men of all parties their soundness, safety, 
and utility in all business pursuits. 

8. That the separation of the moneys of the Government from 
banking institutions is indispensable to the safety of the funds of 
the Government and the rights of the people. 

9. That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President 
the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, under restric- 
tions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public in- 
terests, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits cannot se- 
cure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained 
thereon, and which has saved the American people from the 
corrupt and tyrannical dominion of the Bank of the United 
States, and from a corrupting system of general internal improve- 
ments. 

10. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the 
Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the Constitution, 
which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the op- 
pressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in 
the Democratic faith; and every attempt to abridge the privilege 
of becoming citizens and owners of soil among us ought to be 
resisted with the same spirit which swept the Alien and Sedition 
Laws from our statute books. 

And whereas, Since the foregoing declaration was uniformly 
adopted by our predecessors in national conventions, an adverse 
political and religious test has been secretly organized by a party 
claiming to be exclusively Americans, and it is proper that the 
American Democracy should clearly define its relations thereto, 



160 [HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

and declare its determined opposition to all secret political soci- 
eties, by whatever name they may be called — 

Besolved, That the foundation of this union of States having 
been laid in, and its prosperity, expansion, and pre-eminent ex- 
ample in free government built upon, entire freedom of matters 
of religious concernment, and no respect of persons in regard to 
rank or place of birth, no party can justly be deemed national, 
constitutional, or in accordance with American principles, which 
bases its exclusive organization upon religious opinions and acci- 
dental birthplace. And hence a political crusade in the nine- 
teenth century, and in the United States of America, against 
Catholics and foreign-born, is neither justified by the past history 
or future prospects of the country, nor in unison with the spirit 
of toleration and enlightened freedom which peculiarly dis- 
tinguishes the American system of popular government. 

Besolved, That we reiterate, with renewed energy of purpose, 
the well-considered declarations of former conventions upon the 
sectional issue of domestic slavery, and concerning the reserved 
rights of the States — 

1. That Congress has no power under the Constitution to in- 
terfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several 
States, and that all such States are the sole and proper judges of 
everything appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by 
the Constitution; that all efforts of the Abolitionists or others, 
made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, 
or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to 
lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that 
all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the hap- 
piness of the people and endanger the stability and permanency 
of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of 
our political institutions, 

2. That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended to 
embrace, the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress, and 
therefore the Democratic Party of the Union, standing on this 
national platform, will abide by and adhere to a faithful execu- 
tion of the acts known as the Compromise Measures, settled by 
the Congress of 1850—" The Act for Reclaiming Fugitives from 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1G1 

Service or Labor " included; which act, being designed to carry 
out an express provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidelity 
thereto, be repealed, or so changed as to destroy or impair its 
efficiency. 

i 

3. That the Democratic Party will resist all attempts at renew- 
ing in. Congress, or out of it, the agitation of the slavery ques- 
tion, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made. 

4. That the Democratic Party will faithfully abide by and up- 
hold the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia reso- 
lutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the 
Virginia Legislature in 1799; that it adopts these principles as 
constituting one of the main foundations of its political creed, 
and is resolved to carry them out in their obvious meaning and 
import. 

And that we may more distinctly meet the issue on which a 
sectional party, subsisting exclusively on slavery agitation, now 
relies to test the fidelity of the people, North and South, to the 
Constitution and the Union — 

1. Resolved, That claiming fellowship with and desiring the co- 
operation of all who regard the preservation of the Union under 
the Constitution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sec- 
tional parties and platforms concerning domestic slavery which 
seek to embroil the States and incite to treason and armed re- 
sistance to law in the Territories, and whose avowed purpose, if 
consummated, must end in civil war and disunion, the American 
Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in the 
organic laws establishing the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, 
as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the slavery 
question, upon which the great national idea of the people of 
this whole country can repose in its determined conservation oft 
the Union, and non-interference of Congress with slavery in the' 
Territories or in the District of Columbia. > 

2. That this was the basis of the Compromise of 1850, con- 
firmed by both the Democratic and Whig Parties in national 
conventions, ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and 
rightly applied to the organization of the Territories in 1854. 



162 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

3. That by the uniform application of the Democratic prin- 
ciples to the organization of Territories and the admission of new- 
States, with or without domestic slavery, as they may elect, the 
equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original 
compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the per- 
petuity and expansion of the Union insured to its utmost capacity 
of embracing, in peace and harmony, every future American 
State that may be constituted or annexed with a republican form 
of government. 

Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the 
Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through 
the legally and fairly expressed will of the majority of the actual 
residents, and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies 
it, to form a Constitution, witli or without domestic slavery, and 
be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with 
the other States. 

•Resolved, finally, That in view of the condition of the popular 
institutions in the Old World (and the dangerous tendencies of 
sectional agitation, combined with the attempt to enforce civil 
and religious disabilities against the rights of acquiring and 
enjoying citizenship in our own land), a high and sacred duty is 
devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the Democratic 
Party of this country,. as the party of the Union, to uphold and 
maintain the rights of every State, and thereby the union of the 
States, and to sustain and advance among us constitutional 
liberty, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive 
legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many, 
and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles and 
compromises of the Constitution which are broad enough and 
strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the 
Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be, in the full expression 
of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people. 

1. Resolved, That there are questions connected with the foreign 
policy of this country which are inferior to no domestic questions 
whatever. The time has come for the people of the United 
States to declare themselves in favor of free seas and progressive 
free trade throughout the world, and, by solemn manifestations, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 

to place their moral influence at the side of their successful 
example. 

2. Resolved, That our geographical and political position with 
reference to the other States of this continent, no less than the 
interest of our commerce and the development of our growing 
power, requires that we should hold sacred the principles 
involved in the Monroe doctrine. Their bearing and import 
admit of no misconstruction, and should be applied with unbend- 
ing rigidity. 

3. Resolved, That the great highway which nature, as well as 
the assent of States most immediately interested in its main- 
tenance, has marked out for free communication between the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, constitutes one of the most 
important achievements realized by the spirit of modern times, in 
the unconquerable energy of our people; and that result would 
be secured by a timely and efficient exertion of the control which 
we have the right to claim over it ; and no power on earth should 
be suffered to impede or clog its progress by any interference 
with relations that may suit our policy to establish between our 
Government and the governments of the States within whose 
dominions it lies; we can, under no circumstances, surrender 
our preponderance in the adjustment of all questions arising 
out of it. 

4. Resolved, That, in view of so commanding an interest, the 
people of the United States cannot but sympathize with the 
efforts which are being made by the people of Central America 
to regenerate that portion of the continent which covers the 
passage across the inter-oceanic isthmus. 

5. Resolved, That the Democratic Party will expect of the next 
administration that every proper effort be made to insure our 
ascendency in the Gulf of Mexico, and to maintain permanent 
protection to the great outlets through which are emptied into its 
waters the products raised out of the soil and the commodities 
created by the industry of the people of our "Western valleys and 
of the Union at large. 

6. Resolved, That the administration of Franklin Pierce has 
been true to Democratic principles, and, therefore, true to the 



164 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

great interests of the country; in the face of violent opposition, 
he has maintained the laws at home and vindicated the rights of 
American citizens abroad, and therefore we proclaim our unquali- 
fied admiration of his measures and policy. 



1856. 

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT 
PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 17. 

This convention of delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call 
addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to 
past political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present 
administration, to the extension of slavery into free territory; in 
favor of admitting Kansas as a free State, of restoring the action 
of the Federal Government to the principles of Washington and 
Jefferson; and who purpose to unite in presenting candidates for 
the offices of President and Yice-President, do resolve as follows:. 

Besolved, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated 
in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal 
Constitution, is essential to the preservation of our Republican 
institutions, and" that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the 
States, and the union of the States, shall be preserved. 

Besolved, That with our republican fathers we hold it to be a 
self-evident truth that all men are endowed with the inalienable 
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the 
primary object and ulterior design of our Federal Government 
were, to secure these rights to all persons within its exclusive 
jurisdiction; that as our republican fathers, when they had 
abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that no 
person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain this provi- 
sion of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it for the 
purpose of establishing slavery in any Territory of the United 
States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or 
extension therein. That we deny the authority of Congress, of a 
territorial legislature, of any individual or association of indivi- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 165 

duals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the 
United States, while the present Constitution shall be main- 
tained. 

Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign 
power over the Territories of the United States for their govern- 
ment, and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right 
and the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit in the Terri- 
tories those twin relics of barbarism — polygamy and slavery. 

Resolved, That while the Constitution of the United States was 
ordained and established, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty, and contains ample provisions for the pro- 
tection of the life, liberty, and property of every citizen, the 
dearest constitutional rights of the people of Kansas have been 
fraudulently and violently taken from them ; their Territory has 
been invaded by an armed force; spurious and pretended legis- 
lative, judicial, and executive officers have been set over them, 
by whose usurped authority, sustained by the military power of 
the Government, tyrannical and unconstitutional laws have been 
enacted and enforced; the rights of the people to keep and bear 
arms have been infringed; test oaths of an extraordinary and 
entangling nature have been imposed as a condition of exercis- 
ing the right of suffrage and holding office ; the right of an ac- 
cused person to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury 
has been denied; the right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, has been violated ; they have been deprived of life, 
liberty, and property, without due process of law; that the free- 
dom of speech and of the press has been abridged; the right to 
choose their representatives has been made of no effect; murders, 
robberies, and arsons, have been instigated or encouraged, and 
the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished; that all these 
things have been done with the knowledge, sanction, and pro- 
curement of the present national administration; and that for 
this high crime against the Constitution, the Union, and hu- 
manity, we arraign the administration, the President, his advisers, 
agents, supporters, apologists, and accessaries either before or 



166 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

after the facts, before the country and before the world; and 
that it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpetrators of 
these atrocious outrages, and their accomplices, to a sure and 
condign punishment hereafter. 

Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a 
State of the Union with her present free Constitution, as at once 
the most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment 
of the rights and privileges to which they are entitled, and of 
ending the civil strife now raging in her Territory. 

Besolved, That the highwayman's plea that " might makes 
right," embodied in the Ostend circular, was in every respect un- 
worthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dis- 
honor upon any government or people that gave it their sanction. 

Besolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, by the most 
central and practicable route, is imperatively demanded by the 
interests of the whole country, and that the Federal Government 
ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction, 
and, as an auxiliary thereto, the immediate construction of an 
emigrant route on the line of the railroad. 

Besolved, That appropriations of Congress for the improvement 
of rivers and harbors of a national character, required for the ac- 
commodation and security of our existing commerce, are author- 
ized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of gov- 
ernment to protect the lives and property of its citizens. 

Besolved, That we invite the affiliation and co-operation of the 
men of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in 
support of the principles herein declared; and believing that the 
spirit of our institutions, as well as the Constitution of our 
country, guarantees liberty of conscience and equality of rights 
among citizens, we oppose all proscriptive legislation affecting 
their security. 

1856. 
WHIG PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, SEPTEMBER 13. 

Besolved, That the Whigs of the United States, now here as- 
sembled, hereby declare their reverence for the Constitution of 



HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 167 

the United States, their unalterable attachment to the National 
Union, and a fixed determination to do all in their power to pre- 
serve them for themselves and their posterity. They have no 
new principles to announce; no new platform to establish; but 
are content to broadly rest — where their fathers rested — upon the 
Constitution of the United States, wishing no safer guide, no 
higher law. » 

Resolved, That we regard with the deepest interest and anxiety 
the present disordered condition of our national affairs — a portion 
of the country ravaged by civil war, large sections of our popu- 
lation embittered by mutual recriminations; and we distinctly 
trace these calamities to the culpable neglect of duty by the 

■ 

present national administration. 

Resolved, That the Government of the United States was formed 
by the conjunction in political unity of wide-spread geographical 
sections, materially differing, not only in climate and products, 
but in social and domestic institutions; and that an}' cause that 
shall permanently array the different sections of the Union in po- 
litical hostility and organize parties founded only on geographi- 
cal distinctions, must inevitably prove fatal to a continuance of 
the National Union. 

Resolved, That the Whigs of the United States declare, as a 
fundamental article of political faith, an absolute necessity for 
avoiding geographical parties. The danger, so clearly discerned 
by the Father of his Country, has now become fearfully apparent 
in the agitation now convulsing the nation, and must be arrested 
at once if we would preserve our Constitution and our Union 
from dismemberment, and the name of America from being blot- 
ted out from the family of civilized nations. 

Resolved, That all who revere the Constitution and the Union 
must look with alarm at the parties in the field in the present 
Presidential campaign — one claiming only to represent sixteen 
Northern States, and the other appealing mainly to the passions; 
and prejudices of the Southern States; that the success of either 
faction must add fuel to the flame which now threatens to wrap 
our dearest interests in a common ruin. 

Resolved, That the only remedy for an evil so appalling is to 



168 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

support a candidate pledged to neither of the graphical 
sections nor arrayed in political antagonism, but holding both m 
a lust and eqnal regard. We congratulate the friends of the 
Union that such a candidate exists in Millard Fillmore. 

Resolved, That, without adopting or referring to the peculiar 
doctrines of the party which has already selected Mr Fillmore as 
a candidate, we look to him as a well tried and faithful friend of 
the Constitution and the Union, eminent alike for his wisdom and 
firamess-for his justice and moderation in our foreign relations 
-for his calm and pacific temperament, so well becoming the 
head of a great nation-f or his devotion to the Constitution in its 
true spirit-his inflexibility in executing the laws; but, beyond all 
these attributes, in possessing the one transcendent merit of 
being a representative of neither of the two sectional parties now 
struggling for political supremacy. 

Besolved, That, in the present exigency of political affairs, we 
are not called upon to discuss the subordinate questions of 
administration in the exercising of the constitutional powers of 
the Government. It is enough to know that civil war is raging, 
and that the Union is in peril; and we proclaim the conviction 
that the restoration of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency will furnish 
the best if not the only means of restoring peace. 



1860. 

CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, 

MAY 9. 

Whereas, Experience has demonstrated that platforms adopted 
by the partisan conventions of the country have had the effect to 
mislead and deceive the people, and at the same time to widen 
the political divisions of the country, by the creation and 
encouragement of geographical and sectional parties; therefore, 

! Resolved, That it is both the part of patriotism and of duty to 
"recognize no political principles other than The Constitution 

OF THE COUNTKY, THE UNION OE THE STATES, AND THE ENFORCE- 
MENT of the Laws; and that as representatives of the Constitu- 
tional Union men of the country, in national convention 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 169 

assembled, we hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, protect, and 
defend, separately and unitedly, these great principles of public 
liberty and national safety against all enemies at home and 
abroad, believing that thereby peace may once more be restored 
to the country, the rights of the people and of the States re-estab- 
lished, and the Government again placed in that condition of 
justice, fraternity, and equality, which, under the example and 
Constitution of our fathers, has solemnly bound every citizen of 
the United States to maintain a more perfect union, establish 
justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the commou 
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
liberty to ourselves and our posterity. 



1860. 
REPUBLICAN PLA-TFORM, CHICAGO, MAY 17. 

Besolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Repub- 
lican electors of the United States, in convention assembled, in 
discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, 
unite in the following declarations: 

1. That the history of the nation, during the last four years, 
has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organiza- 
tion and perpetuation of the Republican Party, and that the 
causes which called it into existence are permanent in their 
nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and 
constitutional triumph. 

2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the 
Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Con- 
stitution, " That all men are created equal; that they are endowed 
by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these 
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed," is essential to the 
preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the Federal 
Constitution, the rights of the States, and the union of the States, 
must and shall be preserved. 



*X70 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

3. That to the Union of the States this nation owes its unpre- 
cedented increase in population, its surprising development of 
material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happi- 
ness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence 
all schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they may; 
and we congratulate the country that no Republican member of 
Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of disunion so 
often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with 
applause from their political associates; and we denounce those 
threats of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their 
ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free government, 
and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the 
imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and 
for ever silence. 

4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, 
and especially the right of each State to order and control its 
own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclu- 
sively, is essential to that balance of powers on which the per- 
fection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we 
denounce the lawless invasion, by armed force, of the soil of any 
State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the 
gravest of crimes. 

5. That the present Democratic Administration has far ex- 
ceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency 
to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in 
its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Consti- 
tution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the 
personal relations between master and servant to involve an 
unqualified property in persons; in its attempted enforcement, 
everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of 
Congress and of the Federal Courts, of the extreme pretensions of 
a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of 
the power intrusted to it by a confiding people. 

6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extrava- 
gance which pervades every department of the Federal Govern- 
ment; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indis- 
pensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 171 

by favored partisans; while the recent startling developments of 
frauds and corruptions at the Federal metropolis, show that an 
entire change of administration is imperatively demanded. 

7. That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own force, 
carries slavery into any or all of the Territories of the United 
States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the ex- 
plicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous 
exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent — is revo- 
lutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and 
harmony of the country. 

8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United 
States is that of freedom ; that as our republican fathers, when 
they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained 
that "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, 
whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision 
of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we 
deny the authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or 
of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Ter- 
ritory of the United States. 

9. That we brand the recent reopening of the African slave 
trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions 
of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning 
shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to 
take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final sup- 
pression of that execrable traffic. 

10. That in the recent vetoes, by their Federal Governors, of 
the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting 
slavery in those Territories, we find a practical illustration of the 
boasted Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular 
sovereignty embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a de- 
monstration of the deception and fraud involved therein. 

11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately admitted as 
a State proper under the Constitution recently formed and adopted 
by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives. 

12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the gen- 



172 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

eral Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires 
such an adjustment of these imports as to encourage the develop- 
ment of the industrial interest of the whole country; and we 
commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the 
working men liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, 
to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their 
skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commercial pros- 
perity and independence. 

13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of 
the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of 
the homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or 
suppliants for public bounty; and we demand the passage by 
Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure 
which has already passed the House. 

14. That the Republican Party is opposed to any change in 
our Naturalization Laws, or any State legislation by which the 
rights of citizenship hitherto accorded to immigrants from for- 
eign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving 
a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citi- 
zens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad. 

15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbor im- 
provements of a national character, required for the accommoda- 
tion and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the 
Constitution and justified by the obligations of Government to 
protect the lives and property of its citizens. 

16. That' a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively de- 
manded by the interest of the whole country; that the Federal 
Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its 
construction; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland 
mail should be promptly established. 

17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles 
and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however 
differing on other questions, who substantially agree with us in 
their affirmance and support. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 173 

1860. 

DEMOCRATIC (DOUGLAS) PLATFORM, CHARLESTON, 
APRIL 23, AND. BALTIMORE, JUNE 18. 

1# Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union, in conven- 
tion assembled, hereby declare our affirmance of the resolutions 
unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of principles by 
the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, be- 
lieving that Democratic principles are unchangeable in their 
nature when applied to the same subject-matters, and we recom- 
mend, as the only further resolutions, the following: 

Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic 
Party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Territorial 
Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under 
the Constitution of the United States, over the institution of 
slavery within the Territories. • 

2. Resolved, That the Democratic Party will abide by the de- 
cisions of the Supreme Court of the United States on the ques- 
tions of constitutional law. 

3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford 
ample and complete protection to all its citizens, w 7 hether at 
home or abroad, and whether native or foreign. 

4. Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a mili- 
tary, commercial, and postal point of view, is speedy communi- 
cation between the Atlantic and Pacific States; and the Demo- 
cratic Party pledge such Constitutional Government aid as will 
insure the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast at the 
earliest practicable period. 

5. Resolved, That the Democratic Party are in favor of the ac- 
quisition of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honor- 
able to ourselves and just to Spain. 

6. Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to de- 
feat the faithful execution of. the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile 
in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in 
their effect. 



174 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

7. Eesolved, That it is in accordance with the true interpreta 
tion of the Cincinnati platform, that, during the existence of the 
Territorial governments, the measure of restriction, whatever it 
may be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the 
Territorial Legislature over the subject of domestic relations, as 
the same has been, or shall hereafter be, finally determined by 
the Supreme Court of the United States, shall be respected by all 
good citizens, and enforced with promptness and fidelity by 
every branch of the general Government. 



1860. 

DEMOCRATIC (BRECKENRIDGE) PLATFORM, CHARLES- 
TON AND BALTIMORE. 

Eesolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic Party 
at Cincinnati be affirmed, with following explanatory resolu- 
tions: 

1. That the government of a Territory, organized by an act of 
Congress, is provisional and temporary; and, during its exist- 
ence^ all citizens of the United States have an equal right to 
settle, with their property, in the Territory, without their rights, 
either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by 
Congressional or Territorial legislation. 

2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its de- 
partments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and 
property in the Territories, and wherever else its constitutional 
authority extends. 

3. That when the settlers in a Territory having an adequate 
? population form a State Constitution, in pursuance of law, the 

right of sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by ad- 
mission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the 
people of other States, and the State thus organized ought to be 
admitted into the Federal Union, whether its Constitution pro- 
hibits or recognizes the institution of slavery. 

4 That the Democratic Party are in favor of the acquisition 
of the island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to our- 
selves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 175 

5. That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the 
faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in char- 
acter, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their 
effect. 

6. That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as 
the imperative duty of this Government to protect the natural- 
ized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, 
to the same extent as its native-born citizens. 

Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a politi- 
cal, commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy 
communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; there- 
fore, be it 

Resolved, That the Democratic Party do hereby pledge them- 
selves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of 
some bill, to the extent of the constitutional authority of Con- 
gress, for the construction of a Pacific railroad from the Missis- 
sippi River to the Pacific Ocean, at the earliest practicable mo- 
ment. 



1864. 
RADICAL PLATFORM, CLEVELAND; MAY 31. 

1. That the Federal Union shall be preserved. 

2. That the Constitution and laws of the United States must 
be observed and obeyed. 

3. That the rebellion must be suppressed by force of arms, 
and without compromise. 

4. That the rights of free speech, free press, and the habeas 
corpus be held inviolate, save in districts where martial law has 
been proclaimed. 

5. That the rebellion has destroyed slavery; and the Federal 
Constitution should be so amended as to prohibit its re-establish- 
ment, and to secure to all men absolute equality before the 
law. 

6. That integrity and economy are demanded, at all times, in 



176 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

the administration of the Government, and that in time of war 
the want of them is criminal. 

7. That the right of asylum, except for crime and subject to 
law is a recognized principle of American liberty; and that any 
violation of it cannot be overlooked, and must not go unre- 
buked. 

8. That the national policy known as the " Monroe Doctrine " 
has become a recognized principle; and that the establishment of 
an Anti-Republican Government on this continent by any foreign 
power cannot be tolerated. 

9. That the gratitude and support of the nation are due to the 
faithful soldiers and the earnest leaders of the Union Army and 
Navy, for their heroic achievements and deathless valor in de- 
fense of our imperiled country and of civil liberty. 

10. That the one-term policy for the Presidency, adopted by 
the people, is strengthened by the force of the existing crisis, 
and should be maintained by Constitutional amendment. 

11. That the Constitution shouldbe so amended that the Presi- 
dent and Yice-President shall be elected by a direct vote of the 
people. 

12. That the question of the reconstruction of the rebellious 
States belongs to the people, through their representatives in 
Congress, and not to the Executive. 

13. That the confiscation of the lands of the rebels, and their 
distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers, is a measure 
of justice. 

1864. 
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, JUNE 7. 

Besolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen 
to maintain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union 
and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws of the 
United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political 
opinions, we pledge ourselves, as Union men, animated by a 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. lY7 

common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do every- 
thing in our power to aid tbe Government in quelling, by force 
of arms, tbe rebellion now raging against its authority, and in 
bringing to tbe punishment due to their crimes the rebels and 
traitors arrayed against it. 

Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Govern- 
ment of the United States not to compromise with rebels, nor to 
offer them any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon 
an "unconditional surrender" of their hostility and a return to 
their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of tbe United 
States; and that we call upon the Government to maintain this 
position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor 
to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance 
upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the 
undying devotion of the American people to the country and its 
free institutions. 

Resolved, That, as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes 
the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be always and 
everywhere hostile to the principles of Republican Government; 
justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete 
extirpation from the soil of the Republic; and that we uphold 
and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Govern- 
ment, in its own defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic 
evil. "We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to 
the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its 
provisions, as shall terminate and for ever prohibit the existence 
of slavery within tbe limits or the jurisdiction of the United 
States. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to 
the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy, who have periled 
their lives in defense of their country and in vindication of the 
honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent 
recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and 
permanent provision for those of their survivors who have 
received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of tbe 
country; and that the memories of those who have fallen in its 
defense shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. 



1 78 AND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, 
the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the Con- 
stitution and the principles of American liberty with which 
Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unpar- 
alleled difficully, the great duties and responsibilities of the 
Presidential office; that we approve and indorse, as demanded by 
the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, 
and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures 
and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its 
open and secret foes; that we approve, especially, the Proclama- 
tion of Emancipation, and the employment, as Union soldiers, of 
men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence 
in his determination to carry these, and all other constitutional 
measures essential to the salvation of the country, into full and 
complete effect. 

Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that 
harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard 
as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who 
cordially indorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, 
and which should characterize the administration of the Govern- 
ment. 

Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its 
armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection 
of the' laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of 
the usages of civilized nations in the time of war, by the rebels 
now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full 
redress. 

Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in the past has 
added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and 
increase of power to this nation— the asylum of the oppressed of 
all nations— should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and 
just policy. 

Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the 
railroad to the Pacific coast. 

Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption 
of the public debt, must be kept inviolate; and that, for this pur- 
pose, we recommend economy an.d rigid responsibility in the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 179 

public expenditures and a vigorous and just system of taxation ; 
and that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit 
and promote the use of the national currency. 

Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the Govern- 
ment, that the people of the United States can never regard with 
indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by 
force, or to supplant by fraud, the institutions of any republican 
government on the Western Continent, and that they will view 
with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independ- 
ence of this, our country, the efforts of any such power to obtain 
new footholds for monarchical governments, sustained by a 
foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States. 



1864. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFOKM, CHICAGO, AUGUST 29. 

Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with 
unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution, as the 
only solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as 
a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive 
to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and 
Southern. 

Resolved, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as the 
sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to 
restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under 
the pretense of a military necessity of a war power higher than 
the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in 
every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden 
down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially 
impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare 
demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostili- 
ties, with a view to an ultimate convention of all the States, or 
other peaceable means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable 
moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union 
of all the States. 

Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authority 



180 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky 
Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware, was a shameful violation of 
the Constitution; and the repetition of such acts in the approach- 
ing election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all 
the means and power under our control. 

Besolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic Party is 
to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unim- 
paired- and they hereby declare that they consider the adminis- 
trative' usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not 
granted by the Constitution, the subversion of the civil by mili- 
tary law in States not in insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest, 
imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States 
where civil law exists in full force, the suppression of freedom 
of speech and of the press, the denial of the right of asylum, the 
open and avowed disregard of State rights, the employment of 
unusual test-oaths, and the interference with and denial of the 
right of the people to bear arms in their defense, as calculated to 
prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a Gov- 
ernment deriving its just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned. 

Besolved, That the shameful disregard of the administration to 
its duty in respect to our fellow-citizens who now are, and long 
have been, prisoners of war, in a suffering condition, deserves 
the severest reprobation, on the score alike of public policy and 
common humanity. 

Besolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic Party is 
heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army and 
the sailors of our navy, who are and have been in the field and 
on the sea under the flag of their country; and, in the event of 
our attaining power, they will receive all the care and protection, 
regard and kindness, that the brave soldiers of the Kepublic have 
so nobly earned. 

1868. 
KEPUBLICAN PLATFOKM, CHICAGO, MAY 20. 

1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the 
reconstruction policy of Congress, as evidenced by the adoption, 



HTSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 181 

in the majority of the States lately in rebellion, of constitutions 
securing equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty 
of the Government to sustain those institutions and to prevent 
the people of such States from being remitted to a state of 
anarchy. 

2. The guarantee by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal 
men at the South was demanded by every consideration of pub- 
lic safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; 
while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States properly 
belongs to the people of those States. 

3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; 
and the national honor requires the payment of the public in- 
debtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home 
and abroad, not only according to the letter but the spirit of the 
laws under which it was contracted. 

4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be 
equalized and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will 
permit. 

5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preser- 
vation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended 
over a fair period for redemption ; and it is the duty of Congress 
to reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever it can be honestly 
done. 

6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so 
improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at 
lower rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to 
pay, so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is 
threatened or suspected. 

7. The Government of the United States should be adminis- 
tered with the strictest economy; and the corruptions which 
have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew John- 
son call loudly for radical reform. 

8. We profoundly deplore the tragic death of Abraham Lin- 
coln, and regret the accession to the Presidency of Andrew 
Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected 
him and the cause he was pledged to support; who has usurped 



182 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

high legislative and judicial functions; who has refused to exe- 
cute the laws; who has used his high office to induce other 
officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has employed his 
executive powers to render insecure the property,- the peace, 
liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning 
power- who has denounced the National Legislature as unconsti- 
tutional; who has persistently and .corruptly resisted, by every 
means in his power, every proper attempt at the ^construction 
of the States lately in rebellion; who has perverted the public 
patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption; and who has 
been justly impeach*! for high crimes and misdemeanors, and 
properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of thirty-uve 
Senators. 

9 The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, 
thai because a man is once a subject he is always so mnst be re- 
sisted at every hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal 
Smes not authorized by the laws of nations, and at war with 
ouTnational honor and independence. Naturalized cuizens are 
"titled to protection in all their rights of cit izenstap as though 
they were native-born; and no citizen of the United States 
native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and ™P™T^°* 
bv any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this coun- 
try and, if lo arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Gov- 
ernment to interfere in his behalf. 

10 Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war, there 
were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers 
and seamen ^ho endured the hardships of campaign and cruise 
and imperiled their lives in the service of the country. The 
bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave de- 
fenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten; the 
widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the 
people-a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's protecting 



care. 



11 Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much 
to the wealth, development, and resources, and increase of power 
to this Republic, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, 
should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and 3 ust policy. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 183 

12. This Convention declares itself in sympathy with all 
oppressed people who are struggling for their rights. 

13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and 
forbearance with which men who have served in the rebellion, 
but who now frankly and honestly co-operate with us in restor- 
ing the peace of the country and reconstructing the Southern 
State governments upon the basis of impartial justice and equal 
rights, are received back into the communion of the loyal people; 
and we favor the removal of the disqualifications and restrictions 
imposed upon the late rebels, in the same measure as the spirit of 
disloyalty shall die out, and as may be consistent with the safety 
of the loyal people. 

14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the 
immortal Declaration of Independence, as the true foundation of 
democratic government; and we hail with gladness every effort 
toward making these principles a liyng reality on every inch of 
American soil. 



1868 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, NEW YORK, JULY 4. 

The Democratic Party, in national convention assembled, re- 
posing its trust in the intelligence, patriotism, and discriminating 
justice of the people, standing upon the Constitution as the 
foundation and limitation of the powers of the Government and 
the guarantee of the liberties of the citizen, and recognizing the 
questions of slavery and secession as having been settled, for all 
time to come, by the war or the voluntary action of the Southern 
States in constitutional conventions assembled, and never to be 
revived or reagitated, do, with the return of peace, demand— 

1. Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the 
Union under the Constitution, and of civil government to the 
American people. 

2. Amnesty for all past political offenses, and the regulation 
of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens. 



184 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

3. Payment of the public debt of the United States as rapidly 
as practicable— all moneys drawn from the people by taxation, 
except so much as is requisite for the necessities of the Govern- 
ment, economically administered, being honestly applied to such 
payment; and where the obligations of the Government do not 
expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they were 
issued does not provide, that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, 
in right and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the 
United States. 

4 Equal taxation of every species of property according to 
its real value, including Government bonds and other public 
securities. 

5. One currency for the Government and the people, the 
laborer, and the office-holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the 
producer and the bondholder. 

6. Economy in the administration of the Government; the 
reduction of the standing army and navy; the abolition of the 
Freedmen's Bureau and all political instrumentalities designed 
to secure negro supremacy; simplification of the system and dis- 
continuance of inquisitorial modes of assessing and collecting 
internal revenue; that the burden of taxation may be equalized 
and lessened, and the credit of the Government and the currency 
made good; the repeal of all enactments for enrolling the State 
militia into national forces in time of peace; and a tariff for 
revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the 
internal revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to 
domestic manufactures, and as will, without impairing the reve- 
nue, impose the least burden upon, and best promote and 
encourage, the great industrial interests of the country. 

7. Reform of abuses in the administration ; the expulsion of 
corrupt men from office; the abrogation of useless offices; the 
restoration of rightful authority to, and the independence of, the 
executive and judicial departments of the Government; the sub- 
ordination of the military to the civil power, to the end that the 
usurpations of Congress and the despotism of the sword may 
cease. 

8. Equal rights and protection for naturalized and native 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 185 

"bom citizens, at home and abroad; the assertion of American 
nationality which shall command the respect of foreign powers, 
and furnish an example and encouragement to people struggling 
for national integrity, constitutional liberty, and individual 
rights; and the maintenance of the rights of naturalized citizens 
against the absolute doctrine of immutable allegiance and the 
claims of foreign powers to punish them for alleged crimes com- 
mitted beyond their jurisdiction. 

In demanding these measures and reforms, we arraign the 
Radical Party for its disregard of right and the unparalleled 
oppression and tyranny which have marked its career. After the 
most solemn and unanimous pledge of both Houses of Congress to 
prosecute the war exclusively for the maintenance of the Govern- 
ment and the preservation of the Union under the Constitution, 
it has repeatedly violated that most sacred pledge under which 
alone was rallied that noble volunteer army which carried our 
flag to victory. Instead of restoring the Union, it has, so far as 
in its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten States, in time of 
profound peace, to military despotism and negro supremacy. It 
has nullified there the right of trial by jury; it has abolished the 
habeas corpus, that most sacred writ of liberty; it has overthrown 
the freedom of speech and press ; it has substituted -arbitrary 
seizures and arrests, and military trials and secret star-chamber 
inquisitions, for the constitutional tribunals; it has disregarded, 
in time of peace, the right of the people to be free from searches 
and seizures; it has entered the post and telegraph offices, and 
even the private rooms of individuals,, and seized their private 
papers and letters, without any specific charge or notice cf affi- 
davit, as required by the organic law. It has converted the 
American Capitol into a bastile; it has established a system of 
spies and official espionage to which no constitutional monarchy, 
of Europe would now dare to resort. It has abolished the right] 
of appeal, on important constitutional questions, to the supreme 
judicial tribunals, and threatens to curtail or destroy its original' 
jurisdiction, which is irrevocably vested by the Constitution; 
while the learned Chief Justice has been subjected to the most 
atrocious calumnies, merely because he would not prostitute his 
high office to the support of the false and partisan charges pre- 



186 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

feared against the President. Its corruption and extravagance 
have exceeded anything known in history ; and, by its frauds and 
monopolies, it has nearly doubled the burden of the debt created 
by the war. It has stripped the President of his constitutional 
power of appointment, even of his own Cabinet. Under its 
repeated assaults, the pillars of the Government are pocking on 
their base; and should it succeed in November next, and 
inaugurate its President, we will meet, as a subjected and 
conquered people, amid the ruins of liberty and the scattered 
fragments of the Constitution. 

And we do declare and resolve that ever since the people of the 
United States threw off all subjection to the British Crown, the 
privilege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several 
States, and have been granted, regulated, and controlled 
exclusively by the political power of each State respectively; and 
that any attempt by Congress, on any pretext whatever, to 
deprive any State of this right, or interfere with its exercise, is a 
flagrant usurpation of power which can find no warrant in the 
Constitution, and, if sanctioned by the people, will subvert our 
form of Government, and can only end in a single, centralized, 
and consolidated Government, in which the separate existence of 
the States will be entirely absorbed, and an unqualified despotism 
be established in place of a Federal Union of coequal States. 
And that we regard the reconstruction acts (so called) of Congress 
as usurpations, and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void. 

That our soldiers and sailors, who carried the flag of our 
country to victory against the most gallant and determined foe, 
must ever be gratefully remembered, and all the guarantees given 
in their favor must be faithfully carried into execution. 

That the public lands should be distributed as widely as 
possible among the people, and should be disposed of either 
under the pre-emption of homestead lands or sold in reasonable 
quantities, and to none but actual occupants, at the minimum 
price, established by the Government. When grants of public 
lands may be allowed, necessary for the encouragement of 
important public improvements, the proceeds of the sale of such 
lands, and not the lands themselves, should be so applied. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 187 

That the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, in 
exercising the power of his high office in resisting the aggres- 
sions of Congress upon the constitutional rights of the States and 
the people, is entitled to the gratitude of the whole American 
people; and, on behalf of the Democratic Party, we tender him 
our thanks for his patriotic efforts in that regard. 

Upon this platform, the Democratic Party appeal to every 
patriot, including all the conservative clement and all who desire 
to support the Constitution and restore the Union, forgetting all 
past differences of opinion, to unite with us in the present great 
struggle for the liberties of the people; and that to all such, to 
whatever party they may have heretofore belonged, we extend 
the right hand of fellowship, and hail all such, co-operating with 
us, as friends and brethren. 

Resolved, That this Convention sympathizes cordially with the 
workingrnen of the United States in their efforts to protect the 
rights and interests of the laboring classes of the country. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention are tendered to 
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, for the justice, dignity, and 
impartiality with which he presided over the court of impeach- 
ment on the trial of President Andrew Johnson. 



1872. 

LABOR REFORM PLATFORM, COLUMBUS, 
FEBRUARY 21. 

"We hold that all political power is inherent in the- people, and 
free government founded on their authority and established for 
their benefit; that all citizens are equal in political rights, entitled 
to the largest religious and political liberty compatible with the 
good order of society, as also the use and enjoyment of the fruits 
of their labor and talents; and no man or set of men is entitled 
to exclusive separable endowments and privileges or immunities 
from the Government, but in consideration of public services; 
and any laws destructive of these fundamental principles are 
without rcorrl binding force, and should be repealed. And 
believing that all the evils resulting from unjust legislation now 



X88 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

affecting the industrial classes can be removed by the adoption 
of the principles contained in the following declaration: there- 
fore, 

Besohed, That it is the duty of the Government to establish a 
just standard of distribution of capital and labor, by providing a 
purely national circulating medium, based on the faith and 
resources of the nation, issued directly to the people without the 
intervention of any system of banking corporations, which money 
shall be legal tender in the payment of all debts, public and 
private, and interchangeable, at the option of the holder for 
Government bonds bearing a rate of interest not to exceed 3'65 
per cent., subject to future legislation by Congress. 

2 That the national debt should be paid in good faith, 
according to the original contract, at the earliest option of the 
Government, without mortgaging the property of the people or 
the future exigencies of labor to enrich a few capitalists at home 
and abroad. 

3 That justice demands that the burdens of Government 
should be so adjusted as to bear equally on ail classes, and that 
the exemption from taxation of Government bonds bearing 
extravagant rates of interest, is a violation of all just principles 
of revenue laws. 

4 That the public lands of the United States belong to the 
people, and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to cor- 
porations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of 
the people, and should be granted to landless settlers only, in 
amounts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres of land. 

5 That Congress should modify the tariff so as to admit free 
such articles of common use as we can neither produce nor grow 
and lay duties for revenue mainly upon articles of luxury and 
upon such articles of manufacture as will, we having the raw 
materials, assist in further developing the resources of the 
country. 

6 That the presence in our country of Chinese laborers 
imported by capitalists in large numbers for servile use, is an evil 
entailing want and its attendant train of misery and crime on all 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 189 

classes of the American people, and should be prohibited by- 
legislation. 

7. That we ask for the enactment of a law by which all 
mechanics and day-laborers employed by or on behalf of the 
Government, whether directly or indirectly, through persons, 
firms, or corporations contracting with the State, shall conform 
to the reduced standard of eight hours a day, recently adopted 
by Congress for national employes; and also for an amendment 
to the acts of incorporation for cities and towns, by which all 
laborers and mechanics employed at their expense shall conform 
to the same number of hours. 

8. That the enlightened spirit of the age demands the aboli- 
tion of the system of contract labor in our prisons and other 
reformatory institutions. 

9. That the protection of life, liberty, and property are the 
three cardinal principles of government, and the first two are 
more sacred than the latter; therefore, money needed for prose- 
cuting wars should, as it is required, be assessed and collected 
from the wealthy of the country, and not entailed as a burden on 
posterity. 

10. That it is the duty of the Government to exercise its power 
over railroads and telegraph corporations, that they shall not in 
any case be privileged to exact such rates of freight, transporta- 
tion, or charges, by whatever name, as may bear unduly or un- 
equally upon the producer or consumer. 

11. That there should be such a reform in the civil service of 
the National Government as will remove it beyond all partisan 
influence, and place it in the charge and under the direction of 
intelligent and competent business men. 

12. That as both history and experience teach us that power 
ever seeks to perpetuate itself by every and all means, and that 
its prolonged possession in the hands of one person is always 
dangerous to the interests of a free people, and believing that the 
spirit of our organic laws and the stability and safety of our free 
institutions are best obeyed on the one hand, and secured on the 
other, by a regular constitutional change in the chief of the coun- 



190 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

try at each election ; therefore, we are in favor of limiting the 
occupancy of the Presidential chair to one term. 

13 We are in favor of granting general amnesty and restoring 
the Union at once on the basis of equality of rights and privileges 
to all the impartial administration of justice being the only true 
bond'of union to bind the States together and restore the govern- 
ment of the people. 

14 That we demand the subjection of the military to the civil 
authorities, and the confinement of its operations to national pur- 
poses alone. 

15 That we deem it expedient for Congress to supervise the 
patent laws so as to give labor more fully the benefit of its own 
ideas and inventions. 

16. That fitness, and not political or personal considerations, 
should be the only recommendation to public office, either ap- 
pointive or elective ; and any and all laws looking to the estab- 
lishment of this principle are heartily approved. 



1872. 

PROHIBITION PLATFORM, COLUMBUS, OHIO, 

FEBRUARY 22. 

The preamble recites that protection and allegiance are recip- 
rocal duties ; and every citizen who yields obediently to the full 
commands of Government should be protected in all enjoyment 
of personal security, personal liberty, and private property. 
That the traffic in intoxicating drinks greatly impairs the per- 
sonal security and personal liberty of a great mass of citizens, 
and renders private property insecure. That all political parties 
are hopelessly unwilling to adopt an adequate policy on this 
question : Therefore, as a national convention, we adopt the fol- 
lowing declaration of principles : 

That while we acknowledge the pure patriotism and profound 

'statesmanship of those patriots who laid the foundation of this 

Government, securing at once the rights of the States severally 

and their inseparable union by the Federal Constitution, we 



HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 191 

would not merely garnish the sepulcbeTs of our republican 
fathers, but we do hereby renew our pledges of solemn fealty to 
the imperishable principles of civil and religious liberty em- 
bodied in the Declaration of Independence and our Federal Con- 
stitution. 

That the traffic in intoxicating beverages is a dishonor to 
Christian civilization, a political wrong of unequaled enormity, 
subversive of ordinary objects of government, not capable of 
being regulated or restrained by any system of license whatever, 
and imperatively demands, for its suppression, effective legal 
prohibition, both by State and national legislation. 

That there can be no greater peril to a nation than existing 
party competition for the liquor vote. That any party not op- 
posed to the traffic, experience shows, will engage in this compe- 
tition — will court the favor of criminal classes — will barter away 
the public morals, the purity of the ballot, and every object of 
good government, for party success. 

That, as prohibitionists, we will individually use all efforts to 
persuade men from the use of intoxicating liquors; and we in- 
vite all persons to assist in this movement. 

That competence, honesty, and sobriety are indispensable 
qualifications for holding office. 

That removals from public office for mere political differences 
of opinion are wrong. 

That fixed and moderate salaries of public officers should take 
the place of fees and perquisites ; and that all means should be 
taken to prevent corruption and encourage economy. 

That the President and Vice-President should be elected di- 
rectly by the people. * 

That we are in favor of a sound national currency, adequate 
to the demands of business, and convertible into gold and silver 
at the will of the'holder, and the adoption of every measure com- 
patible with justice and public safety to appreciate our present 
currency to the gold standard. 

That the rates of ocean and inland postage, and railroad and 



192 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

telegraph lines and water transportation, should he made as low 
as possihle by law. 

That we are opposed to all discrimination in favor of capital 
against labor, as well as all monopoly and class legislation. 

That the removal of the burdens imposed in the traffic in 
intoxicating drinks will emancipate labor, and will practically 
promote labor reform. * 

That suffrage should be granted to all persons, without regard 
to sex. 

That the fostering and extension of common schools is a pri- 
mary duty of the Government. 

That a liberal policy should be pursued to promote foreign 
immigration. 

1872. 

LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, CINCINNATI, 

MAY1. 

We the Liberal Republicans of the United States, in national 
convention assembled at Cincinnati, proclaim the following prin- 
ciples as essential to just government: 

1 We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and 
hold that it is the duty of Government, in its dealings with the 
people, to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever 
nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political. 

2 We pledge ourselves to maintain the union of these States, 
emancipation, and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening 
of the questions settled by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fif- 
teenth Amendments of the Constitution. 

"]■ 3 We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all 
disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion, which was 
finally subdued seven years ago, believing that universal am- 
nesty will result in complete pacification in all sections ot the 
country. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 193 

4. Local self -go vera ment, with impartial suffrage, will guard 
the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized 
power. The public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil 
over the military authority, and the freedom of person under the 
protection of the habeas corpus. We demand for the individual 
the largest liberty consistent with public order, for the State self- 
government, and for the nation a return to the methods of peace 
and the constitutional limitations of power. 

5. The civil service of the Government has become a mere 
instrument of partisan tyranny and personal ambitiqn; and an 
object of selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upo% free 
institutions, and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the per- 
petuity of republican government. We, therefore, regard a 
thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing 
necessities of the hour; that honesty, capacity, and fidelity con- 
stitute the only valid claims to public employment; that the 
offices of the Government cease to be a matter of arbitrary favor- 
itism and patronage, and that public station shall become again 
a post of honor. To this end it is imperatively required that no 
President shall be a candidate for re-election. 

6. We demand a system of Federal taxation which shall not 
unnecessarily interfere with the industry of the people, and 
which shall provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of 
the Government, economically administered, the pensions, the 
interest on the public debt, and a moderate reduction annually 
of the principal thereof; and recognizing that there are in our 
midst honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard 
to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit 
the discussion of the subject to the people in their Congressional 
districts and the decision of Congress thereon, wholly free from . 
Executive interference or dictation. 

7. The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we 
denounce repudiation in every form and guise. 

8. A speedy return to specie payment is demanded alike by 
the highest considerations of commercial morality and honest 
Government. 



m 



194 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

9. We remember with gratitude the heroism ami sacrifices of 
the soldiers and sailors of the Republic; and no act of ours shall 
ever detract from their justly earned fame or the full rewards 
of their patriotism. 

10. We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads 
or other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred 
to actual settlers. 

11. We hold that it is the duty of the Government, in its inter- 
course with foreign nations, to cultivate the friendships of peace, 
by treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike 
dishonorable either to demand what is not right or submit to what 
is wrong. 

12. For the promotion and success of these vital principles and 
the support of the candidates nominated by this Convention, we 
invite and cordially welcome the co-operation of all patriotic 
citizens, without regard to previous political affiliations. 

1872. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, BALTIMORE, JULY 9. 

We, the Democratic electors of the United States, in conven- 
tion assembled, do present the following principles, already 
adopted at Cincinnati, as essential to just government: 

[Here followed the "Liberal Republican Platform;" which 
see above.] . 

1872. 
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 5. 

The Republican Party of the United States, assembled in 
national convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 
6th days of June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its 
history, and announces its position upon the questions before the 
country : 

1. During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted, with 
grand courage, the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a 



$ 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 195 

gigantic rebellion, emanoipated four millions of slaves decreed 
the equal citizenship of all, and established universal suffra-c 
Exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no 
man for political offenses, and warmly welcomed all who proved 
their loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing justly with their 
neighbors. • It has steadily decreased, with firm hand, the result- 
ant disorders of a great war, and initiated a wise and humane 
policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar 
vast enterprises have been generously aided and successfully con- 
ducted, the public lands freely given to actual settlers, immigra- 
tion protected and encouraged, and a full acknowledgment of the 
naturalized citizens' rights secured from European powers A 
uniform national currency has been provided, repudiation 
frowned down, the national credit sustained under the most 
extraordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiated at lower rates 
The revenues have been carefully collected and honestly applied 
Despite annual large reductions of the rates of taxation, the pub- 
ic debt has been reduced during General Grant's Presidency at 
the rate of a hundred millions a year, great financial crises have 
been avoided, and peace and plenty prevail throughout the land 
Menacing foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorablv 
compromised, and the honor and power of the nation kept in 
high respect throughout the world. This glorious record of the 
past is the Party's best pledge for the future. We believe the 
people will not intrust the Government to any party or combina- 
tion of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted every 
step of this beneficent progress. 

A^ "Tn amendments t0 the national Constitution 
should be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely 
tolerated because they are law, and should be carried out accord- 

wL£ 1 T^ 7 appr °P riate Ration, the enforcement of 
*hich can safely be intrusted only to the party that secured 
those amendments. eu 

3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of 
all civil political, and public rights should be established and 
effectually maintained throughout the Union by efficient and 
appropriate State and Federal legislation. Keither the law nor 
its administration should admit any discrimination in respect to 



196 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL' 

citizens by reason of race, creed, colour previous condition of 

servitude. 

5 Any system of civil service under which *« subordtoate 
•• Lf th? Government are considered rewards for mere _ 

patronage, and make honesty, ^^'^^^^ 
tial qualifications for public positions, without practically 

arting a life tenure of office. 

fi We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to 
eon— aT monopolies, and demand that the national 
domain be set apart for free homes for the people. 

7 The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures 

T^ remunerative wages to labor, and promote the indus- 
tries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country. 

8 we hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose 
valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt ,pt fl» 
nation and the widows and orphans of those who died for their 
country" e entitled to the care of a generous and grateful ^peo- 
X We favor such additional legislation as will extend the 
honntv of the Government to all our soldiers and sailors who 
we bono ably discharged, and who in the line of duty became 
Tailed without regard to the length of service or the cause of 
such discharge. 

9 The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 197 

transfer allegiance having been accepted by European nations, 
it is the duty of our Government to guard with jealous care the 
rights of adopted citizens against the assumption of unauthor- 
ized claims by their former governments, and we urge continued 
careful encouragement and protection of voluntary immigration. 

10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished, and a way 
prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage. 

11. Among the questions which press for attention is that 
"which concerns the relations of capital and labor; and the Re- 
publican Party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to 
secure full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for 
labor, the creator of capital, the largest opportunities and a just 
share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civil- 
ization. 

12. We hold that Congress and the President have only ful- 
filled an imperative duty in their measures for the suppression of 
violence and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious 
regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box; and therefore, 
they are entitled to the thanks of the nation. 

13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form 
or disguise, as a national crime. We witness with pride the 
reduction of the principal of the debt, and of the rates of inter- 
est upon the balance, and confidently expect that our excellent 
national currency will be perfected by a speedy resumption of 
specie payment. 

14. The Republican Party is mindful of its obligations to the 
loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of 
freedom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is view- 
ed with satisfaction ; and the honest demand of any class of 

^ citizens for additional rights should, be treated with respectful 
consideration. 

15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending 
amnesty to those lately in the rebellion, and rejoice in the 
growth of peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land. 

16. The Republican Party proposes to respect the rights re- 
served by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers 



198 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

delegated by them to the States and to the Federal Government. 
It disapproves of the resort to unconsitutional laws for the pur- 
pose of removing evils by interference with rights not surren- 
dered by the people to either the State or National Government. 

17. It is the duty of the general Government to adopt such 
measures as may tend to encourage and restore American com- 
merce and shipbuilding. 

18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest purpose, 
the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible 
integrity, and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have 
commended him to the heart of the American people ; with him 
at our head, we start to-day upon a new march to victory. 

\ 19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice-Presidency, known 
to the whole land from the early days of the great struggle for 
liberty as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorrupt- 
ible legislator, and representative man of American institutions, 
is worthy to associate with our great leader and share the honors 
which we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon them. 



1872. 

DEMOCRATIC (STRAIGHT-OUT) PLATFORM, 
LOUISVILLE, KY., SEPT. 3. 

Whereas, A frequent recurrence to first principles and eternal 
vigilance against abuses are the wisest provisions for liberty, 
which is the source of progress, and fidelity to our constitutional 
system is'the only protection for either : therefore, 

Resolved, That the original basis of our whole political struc- 
ture is consent in every part thereof . The people of each State 
voluntarily created their State, and the States voluntarily formed 
the Union; and each State provided by its written Constitution 
for everything a State could do for the protection of life, liberty, 
and property within it; and each State, jointly with the others, 
provided a Federal Union for foreign and inter-state relations. 

Resolved, That all governmental powers, whether State or Fede- 
ral, are trust powers coming from the people of each State, and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 199 

that they are limited to the written letter of the Constitution and 
the laws passed in pursuance of it; which powers must be exer- 
cised in the utmost good faith, the Constitution itself stating in 
what manner they may he altered or amended. 

j Resolved, That the interests of labor and capital should not be 
permitted to conflict, but should be harmonized by judicious 
legislation. While such a conflict continues, labor, which is the 
parent of wealth, is entitled to paramount consideration. 

Resolved, That we proclaim to the world that principle is to be 
preferred to power; that the Democratic Party is held together 
by the cohesion of time-honored principles, which they will 
never surrender in exchange for all the offices which Presidents 
can confer. The pangs of the minorities are doubtless excruci- 
ating; but we welcome an eternal minority, under the banner 
inscribed with our principles, rather than an almighty and ever- 
lasting majority, purchased by their abandonment. 

Resolved, That, having been betrayed at Baltimore into a false 
creed and a false leadership by the Convention, we repudiate 
both, and appeal to the people to approve our platform, and to 
rally to the polls and support the true platform and the candi- 
dates who embody it. 



1875. 



THE AMERICAN NATIONAL PLATFORM, ADOPTED IN 
MASS MEETING, PITTSBURG, JUNE 9. 

We hold: 

1. That ours is a Christian and not a heathen nation, and 
that the God of the Christian Scriptures is the author of civil 
government. 

2. That God requires and man needs a Sabbath. 

3. That the prohibition of the importation, manufacture, 
and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, is the true policy 
on the temperance question. 

4. The charters of all secret lodges granted by our Federal 



200 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

and State Legislatures should be withdrawn, and their oaths pro- 
hibited by law. 

5. That the civil equality secured to all American citizens by 
Articles 13th, 14th, and 15th of our Amended Constitution should 
be preserved inviolate. 

6. That arbitration of differences with nations is the most 
direct and sure method of securing and perpetuating a perma- 
nent peace. 

7 That to cultivate the intellect without improving the 
morals of men is to make mere adepts and experts: therefore, 
the Bible should be associated with books of science and litera- 
ture in all our educational institutions. 

8. That land and other monopolies should be discounte- 
nanced. 

9 That the Government should furnish the people with an 
ample and sound currency and a return to specie payment, as 
soon as practicable. 

10 That maintenance of the public credit, protection to all 
loyal citizens, and justice to Indians are essential to the honor 
and safety of our nation. 

11 And, finally, we demand for the American people the 
abolition of Electoral Colleges, and a direct vote for President 
and Vice-President of the United States. 

[Their candidates were James B. Walker, Wheaton, Illinois, 
for President; and Donald Kirkpatrick, Syracuse, New York, 
for Vice-President.] 

1876. 

. PROHIBITION REFORM PLATFORM, CLEVELAND, 

OHIO, MAY 17. 

The Prohibition Reform Party of the United States, organized, 
in the name of the people, to revive, enforce, and perpetuate in 
the Government the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, 
submit, in this centennial year of the Republic, for the suffrages 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 201 

of all good citizens, the following platform of national reforms 
and measures: 

First. The legal prohibition in the District, of Columbia, the 
Territories, and in every other place subject to the laws of Con- 
gress, of the importation, exportation, manufacture, and traffic 
of all alcoholic beverages, as high crimes against society; an 
amendment of the National Constitution, to render these prohib- 
itory measures universal and permanent; and the adoption of 
treaty stipulations with foreign powers, to prevent the importa- 
tion and exportation of all alcoholic beverages. 

Second. The abolition of class legislation, and of special 
privileges in the Government, and the adoption of equal suffrage 
and eligibility to office, without distinction of race, religious 
creed, property, or sex. 

Third. The appropriation of the public lands, in limited 
quantities, to actual settlers only; the reduction of the rates of 
inland and ocean postage; of telegraphic communication; of 
railroad and water transportation and travel, to the lowest prac- 
tical point, by force of laws, wisely and justly framed, with re- 
ference not only to the interest of capital employed, but to the 
higher claims of the general good. 

* Fourth. The suppression, by laws, of lotteries and gambling 
in gold, stocks, produce, and every form of money and property, 
and the penal inhibition of the use of the public mails for adver- 
tising schemes of gambling and lotteries. 

Fifth. The abolition of those foul enormities, polygamy and 
the social evil; and the protection of purity, peace, and happi- 
ness of homes, by ample and efficient legislation. 

Sixth. The national observance of the Christian Sabbath, es, 
tablished by laws prohibiting ordinary labor and business in all 
departments of public service and private employment (works of 
necessity, charny, and religion excepted) on that day. 

Seventh. The establishment, by mandatory provisions in Na- 
tional and State Constitutions, and by all necessary legislation, 
of a system of free public schools for the universal and forced 
education of all the youth of the land. 



202 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Eighth. The free use of the Bible, not as a ground of religious 
creeds, but as a text-book of purest morality, the best liberty, 
and the noblest literature in our public schools, that our children 
may grow up in its light, and that its spirit and principles may 
pervade our nation. 

Ninth. The separation of the Government in all its depart- 
ments and institutions, including the public schools and all 
funds for their maintenance, from the control of every religious 
sect or other association, and the protection alike of all sects by 
equal laws, with entire freedom of religious faith and worship. 

Tenth. The introduction into all treaties hereafter negotiated 
with foreign governments of a provision for the amicable settle- 
ment of international difficulties by arbitration. 

Eleventh. The abolition of all barbarous modes and instruments 
of punishment; the recognition of the laws of God and the claims 
of humanity in the discipline of jails and prisons, and of that 
higher and wiser civilization worthy of our age and nation, which 
regards the reform of criminals as a means for the prevention of 
crime. 

Twelfth The abolition of executive and legislative patronage, 
and the election of President, Vice-President, United States 
Senators, and of all civil officers, so far as practicable, by the 
direct vote of the people. 

Thirteenth. The practice of a friendly and liberal policy to im- 
migrants from all nations, the guarantee to them of ample protec- 
tion, and of equal rights and privileges. 

Fourteenth. The separation of the money of Government from 
all banking institutions. The National Government, only, 
should exercise the high prerogative of issuing paper money, and 
that should be subject to prompt redemption on demand, in gold 
and silver, the only equal standards of value recognized by the 
civilized world. 

Fifteenth. The reduction of the salaries of public officers in a 
just ratio with the decline of wages and market prices; the abo- 
lition of sinecures, unnecessary offices, and official fees and per- 
quisites; the practice of strict economy in Government expenses, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 203 

and a free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged 
abuses of public trusts. 



1876. 

INDEPENDENT (GREENBACK) PLATFORM, INDIAN- 
APOLIS, IND., MAY 17. 

• 

The Independent Party is called into existence by the necessi- 
ties of the people, whose industries are prostrated, whose labor 
is deprived of its just reward by a ruinous policy which the Re- 
publican and Democratic Parties refuse to change; and, in view 
of the failure of these parties to furnish relief to the depressed in- 
dustries of the country, thereby disappointing the just hopes 
and expectations of the suffering people, we declare our prin- 
ciples, and invite all independent and patriotic men to join our 
ranks in this movement for financial reform and industrial eman- 
cipation. 

First. "We demand the immediate and unconditional repeal of 
the specie resumption act of January 14, 1875, and the rescue of 
our industries from ruin and disaster resulting from its enforce- 
ment; and we call upon all patriotic men to organize in every 
congressional district of the country, with a view of electing rep- 
resentatives to Congress who will carry out the wishes of the 
people in this regard and stop the present suicidal and destruc- 
tive policy of contraction. 

Second. We believe that a United States note, issued directly 
by the Government, and convertible, on demand, into United 
States obligations, bearing a rate of interest not exceeding one 
cent a day on each one hundred dollars, and exchangeable for 
United States notes at par, will afford the best circulating me- 
dium ever devised. Such United States notes should be full 
legal tenders for all purposes, except for the payment of such 
obligations as are, by existing contracts, especially made payable 
in coin; and we hold that it is the duty of the Government to 
provide such a circulating medium, and insist, in the language of 
Thomas Jefferson, that "bank paper must be suppressed, and 
the circulation restored to the nation, to whom it belongs." 



204 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Third It is the paramount duty of the Government, in all its 
legislation, to keep in view the full development of all legitimate 
business, agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and commercial. 
Fourth We most earnestly protest against any further issue of 
Void bonds for sale in foreign markets, by which we would be 
made for a long period, " hewers of wood and drawers of 
water "to foreigners, especially as the American people would 
gladly and promptly take at par all bonds the Government may 
need to sell, provided they are made payable at the option of the 
holder, and bearing interest at 3.65 per cent, per annum or even 
a lower rate. ♦ 

Fifth We further protest against the sale of Government 
bonds for the pyroose of purchasing silver to be used as a sub- 
stitute for our more convenient and less fluctuating fractional 
currency which although well calculated to enrich owners of 
silver mines, yet in operation it will still further oppress, m 
taxation, an already overburdened people. 

1876. 

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, CINCINNATI, OHIO, 

JUNE 14. 

When in the economy of Providence, this land was to be 
purged of human slavery, and when the strength of the Govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, was to be 
demonstrated, the Republican Party came into power. Its deeds 
have passed into history, and we look back to them with pride. 
Incited by their memories to high aims for the good of our coun- 
try and mankind, and looking to the future with unfaltering 
courage, hope, and purpose, we, the representatives of the Party, 
in national convention assembled, make the following declara- 
tion of principles: 

1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league. 
By the combined workings of the National and State Govern- 
ments under their respective Constitutions, the rights of every 
pitizen are secured, at home and abroad, and the common wel- 
fare promoted. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 205 

2. The Republican Party has preserved these governments to 
the hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are 
now embodiments of the great truths spoken at its cradle — 
"That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that for the at- 
tainment of these ends governments have been instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned." Until these truths are cheerfully obeyed, or, if need be, 
vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican Party is unfin- 
ished. 

3. The permanent pacification of the Southern section of the 
Union, and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free 
enjoyment of all their rights, is a duty to which the Eepublican 
Party stands sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the 
enforcement of the principles embodied in the recent Constitu- 
tional Amendments is vested, by those amendments, in the Con- 
gress of the United States; and we declare it to be the solemn 
obligation of the legislative and executive departments of the 
Government to put into immediate and vigorous exercise all their 
constitutional powers for removing any just causes of discontent 
on the part of any class, and for securing to every American citi- 
zen complete liberty and exact equality in the exercises of all 
civil, political, and public rights. To this end we imperatively 
demand a Congress and a Chief Executive whose courage and 
fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are 
placed beyond dispute or recall. 

4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant, the 
National Government assumed to remove any doubt of its pur- 
pose to discharge all just obligations to the public creditors, nnd 
"solemnly pledged its faith to make provision at the earliest 
practicable period for the redemption of the United States notes 
in coin." Commercial prosperity, public morals, and national 
credit demand that this promise be fulfilled by a continuous and 
steady progress to specie payment. 

5. Under the Constitution, the President and heads of de- 
partments are to make nominations for ofiace, the Senate is to ad- 
vise and consent to appointments, and the House of Rcpresenta- 



206 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

tires is to accv.se and prosecute faithless officers. The best in- 
terest of the public service demands that these distinctions *e re- 

peld f ; tha? Senators and Representatives who -7 *« * 
nnd accusers should not dictate appointments to office, lne 

Iriabie Ate in appointments should have ^«»^ 
honesty, fidelity, and capacity of the "PP "^™^-: 
party in power those places where harmony and vigor of : admin 
Sta require its policy to be represented, but permitting all 
"to beVd by persons selected with sole retoeoce ,* > h 
efficiency of the public service, and the right of all citizens to 

share in the honor of rendering faithful service to the country. 

6 We reioice in the quickened conscience of the people con- 
cerning poMeal affairs'and will hold all public «"*»*•• 

•rigid responsibility, and engage ^"^^1^0^" 
ment of all who betray official trusts shall be swift, thorough, 

and unsparing. 

7 The public school system of the several States is the bul- 
.aVome American public; and, with a view rto * ssecuri y 
and permanence, we recommend an amendmen to the Consti 
tion of the United States, forbidding the application of any pub- 
He funds or property for the benefit of any schools or mstitu- 
tions under sectarian control. 

, 8. The revenue necessary for current ex penditures and the 
obligations of the public debt, must be largely derived from 
dut Kupon importations, which, so far as possible.shoiild be ad- 
JtedTpromote the interests of American labor and advance 
the prosperity of the whole country. 

9: We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the .public 
lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the 
nattnal domain be devoted to free homes for the people. 

10 It is the imperative duty of the Government so to modify;. 
existing treaties with European governments, that the same p^o- 
Stion shall be afforded to the adopted American citizen that i 
given to the native-born; and that all necessary laws , * >ould be 
passed to protect emigrants in the absence of power in the States 
for that purpose. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 207 

11. It is the immediate duty of Congress to fully investigate 
the effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians 
upon the moral and material interests of the country. 

12. The Republican Party recognizes, with approval, the sub- 
stantial advances recently made towards the establishment of 
equal rights for women by the many important amendments 
effected by Republican legislatures in the laws which concern 
the personal and property relations of wives, mothers, and 
widows, and by the appointment and election of women to the 
superintendence of education, charities, and other public trusts. 
The honest demands of this class of citizens for additional rights, 
privileges, and immunities, should be treated with respectful con- 
sideration. 

13. The Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power 
over the Territories of the United States for their government ; 
and in the exercise of this power it is the right and duty of Con- 
gress to prohibit and extirpate, in the Territories, that relic of 
barbarism— polygamy ; and we demand such legislation as shall 
secure this end and the supremacy of American institutions in 
all the Territories. 

14. The pledges which the nation has given to her soldiers and 
sailors must be fulfilled, and a grateful people will always hold 
those who imperiled their lives for the country's preservation in , 
the kindest remembrance. 

15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional feeling and tendencies. 
We, therefore, note with deep solicitude that the Democratic 
Party counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the Electoral vote 
of a united South, secured through the efforts of those who were 
recently arrayed against the nation; and we invoke the earnest 
attention of the country to the grave truth that a success thus 
achieved would reopen sectional strife, and imperil national 
honor and human rights. 

16. We charge the Democratic Party with being the same in 
character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason; with 
making its control of the House of Representatives the triumph 
and opportunity of the nation's recent foes ; with reasserting and 
applauding, in the national capital, the sentiments of unrepent- 



208 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

* 
ant rebellion; with sending Union soldiers to the rear, and pro- 
moting Confederate soldiers to the front; with deliberately pro- 
posing to repudiate the plighted faith of the Government; with 
being equally false and imbecile upon the overshadowing finan- 
cial questions; with thwarting the ends of justice by its partisan 
mismanagement and obstruction of investigation; with proving 
itself, through the period of. its ascendency in the lower House 
of Congress, utterly incompetent to administer the Government; 
and we warn the country against trusting a party thus alike un- 
worthy, recreant, and incapable. 

17. The National Administration merits commendation for its 
honorable work in the management of domestic and foreign 
affairs, and President Grant deserves the continued hearty grati- 
tude of the American people for his patriotism and his eminent 
services in war and in peace. 

18. We present, as our candidates for President and Yice- 
President of the United States, two distinguished statesmen, of 
eminent ability and character, and conspicuously fitted for those 
high offices, and we confidently appeal to the American people 
tolntrust the administration of their public affairs to Rutherford 
B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler. 



1876. 
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, ST. LOUIS, MO., JUNE 27. 

We, the delegates of the Democratic Party of the United 
States, in national convention assembled, do hereby declare the 
Administration of the Federal Government to be in urgent need 
of immediate reform; do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of 
this convention, and of the Democratic Party in each State, a 
zealous effort and co-operation to this end; and do hereby ap- 
peal to our fellow-citizens of every former political connection 
to undertake, with us, this first and most pressing patriotic 
duty. 

For the Democracy of the whole country, we do here reaffirm 
our faith in the permanence of the Federal Union, our devotion 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 209 

to the Constitution of the United States, with its amendments 
universally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that 
engendered civil war, and do here record our steadfast confidence 
in the perpetuity of Republican self-government. 

In absolute acquiescence in the will of the majority — the vital 
principle of republics; in the supremacy of the civil over the 
military authority; in the total separation of church and State, 
for the sake alike of civil and religious freedom; in the equality 
of all citizens before just laws of their own enactment; in the 
liberty of individual conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws; in the 
faithful education of the rising generation, that they may pre- 
serve, enjoy, and transmit these best conditions of human happi- 
ness and hope — we behold the noblest products of a hundred 
years of changeful history; but while upholding the bond 'of our 
Union and great charter of these our rights, it behooves a free 
people to practice also that eternal vigilance which is the price 
of liberty. 

Reform is necessary to rebuild and establish in the hearts of 
the whole people the Union, eleven years ago happily rescued 
from the danger of a secession of States, but now to be saved from 
a corrupt centralism which, after inflicting upon ten States the 
rapacity of carpet-bag tyranny, has honeycombed the offices of 
the Federal Government itself with incapacity, w T aste, and fraud; 
infected States and municipalities with the contagion of misrule; 
and locked fast the prosperity of an industrious people in the 
paralysis of "hard times." 

Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the 
public credit, and maintain the national honor. 

"We denounce the failure, for all these eleven years of peace, 
to make good the promise of the legal-tender notes, which are a 
changing standard of value in the hands of the people, and the' 
non-payment of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the, 
nation. 

We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace, 
has taken from the people, in federal taxes, thirteen times the 
whole amount of the legal- tender notes, and squandered four 



210 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

times their sum in useless expense without accumulating any 
reserve for their redemption. 

We denounce the financial imbecility and immorality of thai 
party which, during eleven years of peace, has made no advance 
toward resumption, no preparation for resumption, hut instead 
has obstructed resumption, by wasting our resources and exhaust- 
ing all our surplus income; and, while annually professing to 
intend a speedy return to specie payments, has annually enacted 
fresh hinderances thereto. As such hinderance we denounce 
the resumption clause of the act of 1875, and we here demand 
its repeal. 

We demand a judicious system of preparation, by public 
economies, by official retrenchments, and by wise finance, which 
shall enable the nation soon to assure the whole world of its per- 
fect ability and of its perfect readiness to meet any of its prom- 
ises at the call of the creditor entitled to payment. We believe 
such a system, well devised, and, above all, intrusted to com- 
petent hands for execution, creating, at no time, an artificial 
scarcity of currency, and at no time alarming the public mmd 
into a withdrawal of that vaster machinery of credit by which 
ninety-five per cent, of all business transactions are performed. 
A system open, public, and inspiring general confidence, would, 
from the dav of its adoption, bring healing on its wings to all our 
harassed industries- set in motion the wheels of commerce, 
manufactures, and the mechanic arts-restore employment to 
labor-and renew, in all its natural sources, the prosperity of 
the people. 

Reform is necessary in the sum and modes of federal taxation, 
to the end that capital may be set free from distrust and labor 
lightly burdened. 

We denounce the present tariff, levied upon nearly four thou- 
sand articles, as a masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and false 
pretense. It yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising, revenue. 
It has impoverished many industries to subsidize a few. It pro- 
hibits imports that might purchase the products of American 
labor It has degraded American commerce from the first to an 
inferior rank on the high seas. It has cut down the sales of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 

American manufactures at home and abroad, and depleted the 
returns of American agriculture — an industry followed by half 
our people. It costs the people five times more than it produces 
to the treasury, obstructs the processes of production, and wastes 
the fruits of labor. It promotes fraud, fosters smuggling, en- 
riches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest merchants. 
We demand that all custom-house taxation shall be only for 
revenue. 

Reform is necessary in the scale of public expense — Federal, 
State, and Municipal. Our Federal taxation has swollen from 
sixty millions gold, in 1860, to four hundred and fifty millions 
currency, in 1870; our aggregate taxation from one hundred and 
fifty-four millions gold, in 18G0, to seven hundred and thirty 
millions currency, in 1870 — or, in one decade, from less than five 
dollars per head to more than eighteen dollars per head. Since 
the peace, the people have paid to their tax gatherers more than 
thrice the sum of the national debt, and more than twice that 
sum for the Federal Government alone. We demand a rigorous 
frugality in every department and from every officer of the Gov- 
ernment. 

Reform is necessary to put a stop to the profligate waste of 
public lands, and their diversion from actual settlers, by the 
party in power, which has squandered 200,000,000 of acres upon 
railroads alone, and, out of more than thrice that aggregate, has 
disposed of less than a sixth directly to tillers of the soil. 

Reform is necessary to correct the omissions of a Republican 
Congress, and the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy which 
have stripped our fellow-citizens of foreign birth and kindred 
race, recrossing the Atlantic, of the shield of American citizen- 
ship, and have exposed our brethren of the Pacific coast to the 
incursions of a race not sprung from the same great parent stock, 
and in fact now, by law, denied citizenship through naturaliza- 
tion, as being neither accustomed to the traditions of a progress- 
ive civilization nor exercised in liberty under equal laws. We 
denounce the policy which thus discards the liberty-loving Ger- 
man, and tolerates a revival of the Cooly trade in Mongolian 
women, imported for immoral purposes, and Mongolian men, 



212 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

held to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such modifi- 
cation of the treaty with the Chinese Empire, or such legislation 
within constitutional limitations, as shall prevent further importa- 
tion or immigration of the Mongolian race. 

Eeform is necessary, and can never be effected but by mating 
it the controlling issue of the elections and lifting it ; ab^er the 
two false issues with which the office-holding class and the party 
in power seek to smother it : 

1 The false issue with which they would enkindle sectarian 
strife in respect to the puhlic schools, of which the establishment 
and support belong exclusively to the several States and which 
the Democratic Party has cherished from their foundat.on and 
is resolved to maintain, without prejudice or preference for any 
class, slot, or creed, and without largesses from the treasury to 
any. 

2 Tbe false issue by which they seek to light anew the dying 
embers of sectional hate between kindred peoples once estranged 
but now reunited in one indivisible republic and a common des- 
tiny. 

Reform is necessary in the civil service Experience .proves 
that efficient, economical conduct of *e Goyernmenta business 
1, not uossible if its civil service he subject to change at every 

e" a prize fought for at the ballot-box be a bnef reward 
nf ™rtv zeal instead of posts of honor assigned for pioved com 
p etency and held for fidelity in the public employ; that the d» 
p using of patronage should neither be a tax upon the time of 
S our'pnhlic men, nor the instrument of their amnion Here 
a .ain promises, falsified in the performance, attest that the 
party in power ean work out no practical er salutary reform. 

Reform is necessary, even more, in the higher grades of the 
nubile service. President, Vice-President, Judges, Senators, 
Spresentatives, Cabinet officers-these, and all others m au hor- 
Uy- e the people's servants. Their offices are not a private 
^uisite; they are a public trust. When ^Wta o ** 
Ttermblic show the disgrace and censure of a Vice-President a 
fate Speaker of the House of Representatives marketing hts 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 

rulings as a presiding officer; three Senators profiting secretly 
by their votes as law makers; five chairmen of the leading com- 
mittees of the late House of Representatives exposed in jobbery; 
a late Secretary of the Treasury forcing balances in the public 
accounts; a late Attorney-General misappropriating public funds; 
a Secretary of the Navy enriched, or enriching friends, by per- 
centages levied off the profits of contractors with his department; 
an Ambassador to England concerned in a dishonorable specula- 
tion; the President's private secretary barely escaping conviction 
upon trial for guilty complicity in frauds upon the revenue; a 
Secretary of War impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors 
— the demonstration is complete, that the first step in reform 
must be the people's choice of honest men from another part} r , 
lest the disease of one political organization infect the body poli- 
tic, and lest by making no change of men or parties we get no 
change of measures and no real reform. 

All these abuses, wrongs, and crimes — the product of sixteen 
years' ascendency of the Republican Party — create a necessity 
for reform, confessed by the Republicans themselves; but their 
reformers are voted down in convention and displaced from the 
Cabinet. The party's mass of honest voters is powerless to resist 
the eighty thousand office-holders, its leaders and guides. 

Reform can only be had by a peaceful civic revolution. We 
demand a change of system, a change of administration, a change 
of parties, that we may have a change of measures and of men. 

Besolved, That this Convention, representing the Democratic 
Party of the United States, do cordially indorse the action of the 
present House of Representatives, in reducing and curtailing the 
expenses of the Federal Government, in cutting down salaries 
and extravagant appropriations, and in abolishing useless offices 
and places not required by the public necessities; and we shall 
trust to the firmness of the Democratic members of the House 
that no committee of conference and no misinterpretation of the 
rules will be allowed to defeat these wholesome measures of 
economy demanded by the country. 

Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and 
the widows and orphans of those who have fallen in battle, have 



214 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

a just claim upon the care, protection, and gratitude of their 
fellow-citizens. 



1 878. 

NATIONAL PLATFORM, TOLEDO, OHIO, FEBRUARY 22. 

Whereas, Throughout our entire country the value of real 
estate is depreciated, industry paralyzed, trade depressed, busi- 
ness incomes and wages reduced, unparalleled distress inflicted 
upon the poorer and middle ranks of our people, the land filled 
with fraud, embezzlement, bankruptcy, crime, suffering, pau- 
perism, and starvation ; and 

Whereas, This state of things has been brought about by legis- 
lation in the interest of and dictated by money-lenders, bankers, 
and bondholders; and 

Whereas, While we recognize the fact that the men in Congress 
connected with the old political parties have stood up manfully 
for the rights of the people, and met the threats of the money 
power and the ridicule of an ignorant and subsidized press, yet 
neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party in their policies 
propose remedies for the existing evils; and 

Whereas, The Independent Greenback Party and other associa- 
tions more or less effective have been unable, hitherto, to make 
a formidable opposition to old party organizations; and 

Whereas, The limiting of the legal tender quality of the green- 
backs, the changing of currency bonds into coin bonds, the de- 
monetization of the silver dollar, the exempting of bonds from 
taxation, the contraction of the circulating medium, the proposed 
forced resumption of specie payments, and the prodigal waste of 
the public lands, were crimes against the people; and, as far as 
possible, the results of these criminal acts must be counteracted 
by judicious legislation; 

Tfierefore, We assemble in national convention and make a 
declaration of our principles, and invite all patriotic citizens to 
unite in an effort to secure financial reform and industrial eman- 
cipation. The organization shall be known as the "National 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 215 

Party," and under this name we -will perfect, without delay, 
national, State, and local associations, to secure the election to 
office of such men only as will pledge themselves to do all in 
their power to establish these principles: 

First. It is the exclusive function of the general Government 
to com and create money and regulate its value. All bank issues 
designed to circulate as money should be suppressed. The circu- 
lating medium, whether of metal or paper, shall be issued by the 
Government, and made a full legal tender for all debts, duties, and 
taxes in the United States, at its stamped value. 

Second. There shall be no privileged class of creditors. Official 
salaries, pensions, bonds, and all other debts and obligations, 
public and private, shall be discharged in the legal tender money 
of the United States, strictly according to the stipulations of the 
laws under which they were contracted. 

Third. The coinage of silver shall be placed on the same foot- 
ing as that of gold. 

Fourth. Congress shall provide, said money adequate to the 
full employment of labor, the equitable distribution of its pro- 
ducts, and the requirements of business, fixing a minimum 
amount j?6r capita of the population as near as maybe, and other- 
wise regulating its value by wise and equitable provisions of 
law, so that the rate of interest will secure to labor its just re- 
ward. 

Fifth. It is inconsistent with the genius of popular government 
that any species of private property should be exempt from bear- 
ing its proper share of the public burdens. Government bonds 
and money should be taxed precisely as other property, and a 
graduated income tax should be levied for the support of the" 
Government and the payment of its debts. 

Sixth. Public lands are the common property of the whole 
people, and should not be sold to speculators nor granted to rail- 
roads or other corporations, but should be donated to actual 
settlers in limited quantities. 

Seventh. The Government s"hould by general enactments en- 
courage the development of our agricultural, mineral, mechani- 



216 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

cal, manufacturing, and commercial resources, to the end that 
labor may be fully and profitably employed; but no monopolies 
should be legalized. 

Eighth. All useless offices should be abolished, the most rigid 
economy favored in every branch of the public service, and severe 
punishment inflicted upon public officers who betray the trusts 
reposed in them. 

Ninth. As educated labor lias devised means for multiplying 
production by inventions and discoveries, and as their use re- 
quires the exercise of mind as well as body, such legislation 
should be had that the number of hours of daily toil will be 
reduced, giving to the working classes more leisure for mental 
improvement and their several enjoyments, and saving them 
from premature decay and death. 

Tenth. The adoption of an American monetary system as pro- 
posed herein will harmonize all differences in regard to tariff 
and federal taxation, reduce and equalize the cost of transporta- 
tion by land and water, distribute equitably the joint earnings of 
capital and labor, secure to the producers of wealth the results 
of their labor and skill, and muster out of service the vast army 
of idlers who, under the existing system, grow rich upon the earn- 
ings of others, that every man and woman may by their own 
efforts secure a competency, so that overgrown fortunes and 
extreme poverty will be seldom found within the limits of our 
Kepublic. • 

Eleventh. Both. National and State Governments should establish 
bureaus of labor and industrial statistics, clothed with the power 
of gathering and publishing the same. 

Twelfth. That the contract system of employing labor in our 
prisons and reformatory institutions works great injustice to our 
mechanics and artisans, and should be prohibited. 

Thirteenth. The importation of servile labor into the United 
States from China is a problem of the most serious importance, 
and we recommend legislation looking to its suppression. 

Fourteenth. We believe in the supremacy of law over and above 
all perishable material, and in the necessity of a party of united 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 217 

people that will rise above old party lines and prejudices. We 
will not affiliate in any degree with any of the old parties, but in 
all cases and localities will organize anew, as united national 
men — nominate for office and official positions only such persons 
as are clearly believers in and identified with this our sacred cause; 
and irrespective of creed, color, place of birth, or past condition of 
political or other servitude, vote only for men who entirely aban- 
don old party lines and organizations. 



1879. 

NATIONAL LIBERAL PLATFORM, CINCINNATI, OHIO, 

SEPTEMBER 14. 

1. Total separation of church and State, to be guaranteed by 
amendment of the United States Constitution; including the 
equitable taxation of church property, secularization of the pub- 
lic schools, abrogation of Sabbatarian laws, abolition of chap- 
laincies, prohibitions of public appropriations for religious pur- 
poses, and all measures necessary to the same general end. 

2. National protection for national citizens in their equal civil, 
political, and religious rights, to be guaranteed by amendment 
of the United States Constitution and afforded through the United 
States Courts. 

3. Universal education, the basis of universal suffrage in this 
secular Republic, to be guaranteed by amendment of the United 
States Constitution, requiring every State to maintain a 
thoroughly secularized public school system, and to permit no 
child within its limits to grow up without a good elementary 
education. 



1880. 

INDEPENDENT REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES. 

I. Independent Republicans adhere to the Republican prin- 
ciples of national supremacy, sound finance, and civil service 
reform, expressed in the Republican platform of 1876, in the 



218 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

letter of acceptance of President Hayes, and in his Message of 
1879; and they seek the realization of those principles in practical 
laws and their efficient administration. This requires— 

1 The continuance on the statute-hook of laws protecting the 
rights of voters at national elections. But national supremacy 
affords no pretext for interference with the local rights of com- 
munities; and the development of the South from its present 
defective civilization can he secured only under constitutional 
methods, such as those of President Hayes. 

2 The passage of laws which shall deprive greenbacks of their 
legal-tender quality, as a first step toward their ultimate with- 
drawal and cancellation, and shall maintain all coins made legal- 
tender at such weight and fineness as will enable them to be used 
without discount in the commercial transactions of the world. 

3 The repeal of the acts which limit the terms of office of 
certain Government officials to four years; the repeal of the 
tenure-of-office acts, which limit the power of the Executive to 
remove for cause; the establishment of a permanent civil service 
commission, or equivalent measures, to ascertain, by open com- 
petition, and certify to the President or other appointing power 
the fitness of applicants for nomination or appointment to all 
non-political offices. 

II Independent Republicans believe that local issues should 
be independent of party. The words Republican and Democrat 
should have no weight in determining whether a school or city 
shall be administered on business principles by capable men. 
With a view to this, legislation is asked which shall prescribe for 
the voting for local and for State officers upon separate ballots. 

III Independent Republicans assert that a political party is 
a co-operation of voters to secure the practical enactment into 
legislation of political convictions set forth as its platform. 
Every voter accepting that platform is a member of that party; 
any representative of that party opposing the principles or evad- 
ing the promises of its platform forfeits the support of its voters. 
No voter should be held by the action or nomination of any 
caucus or convention of his party against his private judgment. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 219 

It is his duty to vote against bad measures and unfit men, as the 
only means of obtaining good ones; and if his party no lon-er 
represents its professed principles in its practical working it is 
his duty to vote against it. 

IV. Independent Republicans seek good nominations through 
participation in the primaries and through the defeat of bad 
nominees; they will labor for the defeat of any local Republican 
candidate, and, in co-operation with those holding like views 
elsewhere, for the defeat of any general Republican candidate 
whom they do not deem fit. 



1880. 
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 2. 

The Republican Party, in national convention assembled at 
the end of twenty years since the Federal Government was first 
committed to its charge, submits to the people of the United 
States this brief report of its administration : 

It suppressed a rebellion which had armed nearly a million of 
men to subvert the national authority. It reconstructed the 
Union of the States with freedom, instead of slavery as its 
corner-stone. It transformed four millions of human' beings 
from the likeness of things to the rank of citizens. It relieved 
Congress from the infamous work of hunting fugitive slaves, 
and charged it to see that slavery does not exist. 

It has raised the value of our paper currency from thirty-eight 
per cent, to the par of gold. It has restored, upon a solid basis 
payment in coin for all the national obligations, and has given 
us a currency absolutely good and equal in every part of our ex- 
tended country. It has lifted the credit of the nation from the 
point where six per cent, bonds sold at eighty-six to that where 
four per cent, bonds are eagerly sought at a premium. 

Under its administration railways have increased from 31 000 
miles in 1860, to more than 82,000 miles in 1879. 



220 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Our foreign trade has increased from $700,000,000 to 
*1 1TO0C0 000 in the same time; and our exports, which were 
SoOO 000 less than our imports in 1860, were $264,000,000 
more than our imports- in 1879. 

Without resorting to loans, it has, since the war closed ^de- 
frayed the ordinary expenses of Government, besides the accru^ 
"'interest on the puhlie debt, and ^boised. «"^^ 
$30 000 000 for soldiers' pensions. It has paid $888,000,000 
^public debt, and, by refunding the balance at lower 
rates, has reduced the annual interest charge from nearly 
$151,000,000 to less than $89,000,000. 

All the industries of the country have revived, labor is "in 
demand wages have increased, and throughout the entire 
country there is evidence of a coming prosperity greater than we 
have ever enjoyed. 

Upon this record the Republican Party asks for the conti- 
nued confidence and support of the people; and this convention 
submits for their approval the following statement of the prin- 
ciples and purposes which will continue to guide and inspire its 
efforts: 

1 We affirm that the work of the last twenty years has been 
such as to commend itself to the favor of the nation, and that 
be fruits of the costiy victories which we have achrev d 
through immense difficulties, should be preserved; that the 
peace'regai-d should be cherished; that the d ssevered Vmo* 
now happily restored, should be perpetuated, and that the 
Cties lured to this generation should be transmit ednndi- 
urinished to future generations ; that the order established and 
The credU acquired slould never be impaired; that the pensions 
promised should be paid; that the debt so much reduced should 
beTxtinguished by the full payment of every dollar thereof ■ 
that the reviving industries should be further promoted; and 
that the commerce, already so great, should be steadily enconr- 
acred. 

2 The Constitution of the United States is a supreme law and 
not a mere contract; out of Confederate States it made a 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 221 

sovereign nation. Some powers are denied to the nation, while 
others are denied to States; but the boundary between the pow- 
ers delegated and those reserved is to be determined by the 
national and not by the State tribunals. 

3. The work of popular education is one left to the care of the 
several States, but it is the duty of the National Government to 
aid that work to the extent of its constitutional ability. The 
intelligence of the nation is but the aggregate of the intelligence 
in the several States; and the destiny of the nation must be 
guided, not by the genius of any one State, but by the average 
genius of all. 

4. The Constitution wisely forbids Congress to make any law 
respecting an establishment of religion; but it is idle to hope that 
the nation can be protected against the influences of sectarianism 
while each State is exposed to its domination. We, there- 
fore, recommend that the Constitution be so amended as to lay 
the same prohibition upon the Legislature of each State, to for- 
bid the appropriation of public funds to the support of sectarian 
schools. 

5. We reaffirm the belief, avowed in 1876, that the duties levied 
for the purpose of revenues should so discriminate as to favor 
American labor; that no further grant of the public domain 
should be made to any railway or other corporation; that slavery 
having perished in the States, its twin barbarity— polygamy- 
must die in the Territories; that everywhere the protection 
accorded to citizens of American birth must be secured to citizens 
by American adoption. That we esteem it the duty of Congress 
to develop and improve our water-courses and harbors, but insist 
that further subsidies to private persons or corporations must 
cease. That the obligations of the Republic to the men who pre- 
served its integrity in the day of battle are undiminished by the 
lapse of fifteen years since their final victory— to do them per-! 
petual honor is, and shall for ever be, the grateful privilege and 
sacred duty of the American people. : 

6. Since the authority to regulate immigration and intercourse 
between the United States and foreign nations rests with the 
Congress of the United States and its treaty-making powers, the 



222 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

Republican Party, regarding the unrestricted immigration of the 
Chinese as an evil of great magnitude, invoke the exercise of 
that power to restrain and limit that immigration by the enact- 
ment of such just, humane, and reasonable provisions as will 
produce that result. 

7. That the purity and patriotism which characterized the 
earlier career of Rutherford B. Hayes in peace and war, and 
which guided the thoughts of our immediate predecessors to 
select him for a Presidential candidate, have continued to inspire 
him in his career as Chief Executive, and that history will accord 
to his administration the honors which are due to an efficient, 
just, and courteous discharge of the public business, and will 
honor his interpositions between the people and proposed parti- 
san laws. 

8. We charge upon the Democratic Party the habitual sacri- 
fice of patriotism and justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for 
office and patronage ; that to obtain possession of the National 
and State Governments, and the control of place and position, 
they have obstructed all efforts to promote the purity and to con- 
serve the freedom of suffrage; have devised fraudulent cer- 
tifications and returns; have labored to unseat lawfully-elected 
members of Congress, to secure, at all hazards, the vote of a 
majority of the States in the House of Representatives; have 
endeavored to occupy, by force and fraud, the places of trust 
given to others by the people of Maine, and rescued by the 
courageous action of Maine's patriotic sons, have, by methods 
vicious in principle and tyrannical in practice, attached partisan 
legislation to appropriation bills, upon whose passage the very 
movements of Government depend; have crushed the rights of 
the individual; have advocated the principle and sought the 
favor of rebellion against the nation, and have endeavored to 
obliterate the sacred memories of the war, and to overcome its 
inestimably valuable results of nationality, personal freedom, 
and individual equality. Equal, steady, and complete enforce- 
ment of the laws, and protection of all our citizens in the enjoy- 
ment of all privileges and immunities guaranteed by the Con- 
stitution, are the first duties of the nation. The danger of a 
solid South can only be averted by the faithful performance of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 223 

every promise which the nation made to the citizen. The execu- 
tion of the laws, and the punishment of all those who violate 
them, are the only safe methods by which an enduring peace can 
be secured, and genuine prosperity established throughout the 
South. Whatever promises the nation makes, the nation must 
perform; and the nation cannot with safety relegate this duty to 
the States. The solid South must be divided by the peaceful 
agencies of the ballot, and all opinions must there find free 
expression; and to this end honest voters must be protected 
against terrorism, violence, or fraud. And we affirm it to be the 
duty and the purpose of the Republican Party to use all legiti- 
mate means to restore all the States of this Union to the most 
perfect harmony which may be practicable; and we submit to 
the practical, sensible people of the United States to say 
whether it would not be dangerous to the dearest interests of our 
country, at this time, to surrender the administration of the 
National Government to a Party which seeks to overthrow the 
existing policy, under which we are so prosperous, and thus 
bring distrust and confusion where there are now order, confi- 
dence, and hope. 

9. The Republican Party, adhering to a principle affirmed by 
its last national convention, of respect for the constitutional 
rule covering appointments to office, adopts the declaration of 
President Hayes, that the reform of the civil service should be 
thorough, radical, and complete. To this end it demands the 
co-operation of the legislative with the executive department of 
the Government, and that Congress shall so legislate that fitness, 
ascertained by proper practical tests, shall admit to the public 
service; and that the power of removal for cause, with due 
responsibility for the good conduct of subordinates, shall accom- 
pany the power of appointment. 



1880. 

NATIONAL (GREENBACK) PLATFORM, CHICAGO, 

ILLINOIS, JUNE 9. 

The civil Government should guarantee the divine right of 
every laborer to the results of his toil, thus enabling the pro- 



224 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

ducers of wealth to provide themselves with the means for 
physical comfort, and facilities for mental, social, and moral cul- 
ture ; and we condemn, as unworthy of our civilization, the bar- 
barism which imposes upon wealth producers a state of drudgery 
as the price of a bare animal existence. Notwithstanding the 
enormous increase of productive power by the universal intro- 
duction of labor-saving machinery and the discovery of new 
agents for the increase of wealth, the task of the laborer is 
scarcely lightened, the hours of toil are but little shortened, and 
few producers are lifted from 'poverty into comfort and pecu- 
niary independence. The associated monopolies, the interna- 
tional syndicates, and other income classes demand dear money, 
cheap labor, and a strong government, and, hence, a weak peo- 
ple. Corporate control of the volume of money has been the 
means of dividing society into hostile classes, of an unjust dis- 
tribution of the products of labor, and of building up monopolies 
of associated capital, endowed with power to confiscate private 
property. It has kept money scarce; and the scarcity of money 
enforces debt-trade and public and corporate loans; debt engen- 
ders usury, and usury ends in the bankruptcy of the borrower. 
Other results are— deranged markets, uncertainty in manufactur- 
ing enterprises and agriculture, precarious and intermittent em- 
ployment for tb» laborer, industrial war, increasing pauperism 
and crime, and the consequent intimidation and disfranchisement 
of the producer, and a rapid declension into corporate feudalism. 
Therefore, we declare — 

First. That the right to make and issue money is a sovereign 
power, to be maintained by the people for their common benefit. 
The delegation of this right to corporations is a surrender of the 
central attribute of sovereignty, void of constitutional sanction, 
and conferring upon a subordinate and irresponsible power an 
absolute dominion over industry and commerce. All money, 
whether metallic or paper, should be issued, and its volume con- 
trolled, by the Government, and not by or through banking cor- 
porations ; and, when so issued, should be a full legal tender for 
all debts, public and private. 

Second. That the bonds of the United States should not be re- 
funded, but paid as rapidly as practicable, according to contract. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 225 

To enable the Government to meet these obligations, legal-tender 
currency should be substituted for the notes of the National 
Banks, the national bankiag system abolished, and the unlimited 
coinage of silver, as well as gold, established by law. 

Third. That labor should be so protected by national and State 
authority as to equaliz3 its burdens and insure a just distribution 
of its results. The eight hour law of Congress should be en- 
forced, the sanitary condition of industrial establishments placed 
und<r rigid control, the competition of contract convict labor 
abolished, a bureau of labor statistics established, factories, 
mines, and workshops inspected, the employment of children 
under fourteen years of age forbidden, and wages paid in cash. 

Fourth. Slavery being simply cheap labor, and cheap labor 
being simply slavery, the importation and presence of Chinese 
serfs necessarily tends to brutalize and degrade American labor ; 
therefore, immediate steps should be taken to abrogate the Bur- 
lingame treaty. 

Fifth. Railroad grant lands forfeited by reason of non-fulfill- 
ment of contract should be immediately reclaimed by the Gov- 
ernment, and, henceforth, the public domain reserved exclu- 
sively as homes for actual settlers. 

Sixth. It is the duty of Congress to regulate inter-state com- 
merce. All lines of communication and transportation should 
be brought under such legislative control as shall secure mode- 
rate, fair, and uniform rates for passenger and freight traffic. 

Seventh. We denounce as destructive to property and danger- 
ous to liberty the action of the old parties in fostering and sus- 
taining gigantic land, railroad, and money corporations, and 
monopolies invested with and exercising powers belonging to the 
Government, and yet not responsible to it for the manner of 
their exercise. 

Eighth. That the Constitution, in giving Congress the power 
to borrow money, to declare war, to raise and support armies, 
to provide and maintain a navy, never intended that the men 
who loaned their money for an interest consideration should be 
preferred to the soldiers and sailors who periled their lives and 



226 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

shed their blood on land and sea in defense of their country ; and 
we condemn the cruel class legislation of the Republican Party, 
which, while professing great gratitude to the soldier, has most 
unjustly discriminated against him and in favor of the bond- 
holder. 

Ninth. All property should bear its just proportion of taxation, 
aud we demand a graduated income tax. 

Tenth. We denounce as dangerous the efforts everywhere 
manifest to restrict the right of suffrage. 

Eleventh. We are opposed to an increase of the standing army 
in time of peace, and the insidious scheme to establish an enor- 
mous military power under the guise of militia laws. 

Twelfth. That we demand absolute Democratic rules for the 
government of Congress, placing all representatives of the people 
upon an equal footing, and taking away from committees a 
veto power greater than that of the President. 

Thirteenth. We demand a government of the people, by 
the people, and for the people, instead of a government of the 
bondholder, by the bondholder, and for the bondholder ; and we 
denounce every attempt to stir up sectional strife as an effort to 
conceal monstrous crimes against the people. 

Fourteenth. In the furtherance of these ends we ask the co- 
operation of all fair-minded people. We have no quarrel with 
individuals, wage no war on classes, but only against vicious 
institutions. We are not content to endure further discipline 
from our present actual rulers, who, having dominion over 
money, over transportation, over land and labor, over the press 
and the machinery of Government, wield unwarrantable power 
over our institutions and over life and property. 

1880. 

PROHIBITION REFORM PLATFORM, CLEVELAND, 

OHIO, JUNE 17. 

The Prohibition Reform Party of the United States, organized, 
in the name of the people, to revive, enforce, and perpetuate in 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 227 

the Government the doctrines of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, submit, for the suffrage of all good citizens, the following 
platform of national reforms and measures : 

In the examination and discussion of the temperance question, 
it has been proven, and is an accepted truth, that alcoholic 
drinks, whether fermented, brewed, or distilled, are poisonous 
to the healthy human body, the drinking of which is not only 
needless but hurtful, necessarily tending to form intemperate 
habits, increasing greatly the number, severity, and fatal termi- 
nation of diseases, weakening and derauging the intellect, pol- 
luting the affections, hardening the heart, and corrupting the 
morals, depriving many of reason and still more of its healthful 
exercise, and annually bringing down large numbers to untimely 
graves, producing, in the children of many who drink, a predis- 
position to intemperance, insanity, and various bodily and men- 
tal diseases, causing diminution of strength, feebleness of vision, 
fickleness of purpose, and premature old age, and inducing in 
all future generations, deterioration of moral and physical char- 
acter. Alcoholic drinks are thus the implacable foe of man as 
an individual. 

First. The legalized importation, manufacture, and sale of 
intoxicating drinks ministers to their use, and teaches the erro- 
neous and destructive sentiment that such use is right, thus 
tending to produce and perpetuate the above-mentioned evils. 

Second. To the home it is an enemy — proving itself to be a 
disturber and destroyer of its peace, prosperity, and happiness; 
taking from it the earnings of the husband; depriving the de- 
pendent wife and children of essential food, clothing, and edu- 
cation; bringing into it profanity, abuse, and violence; setting at 
naught the vows of the marriage altar; breaking up the family 
and sundering the children from the parents, and thus destroy- 
ing one of the most beneficent institutions of our Creator, and 
removing the sure foundation of good government, national 
prosperity, and welfare. 

Third. To the community it is equally an enemy — produc- 
ing vice, demoralization, and wickedness ; its places of sale being 
resorts of gaming, lewdness, and debauchery, and the hiding- 



228 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

place of those who prey upon society; counteracting the efficacy 
of religious effort, and of all means of intellectual elevation, - 
moral purity, social happiness, and the eternal good of mankind, 
without rendering any counteracting or compensating benefits ;< 
being in its influence and effect evil and only evil, and that con- 
tinually. 

Fourth. To the State it is equally an enemy— legislative 
inquiries, judicial investigations, and official reports of all penal, 
reformatory, and dependent institutions showing that the manu- 
facture and sale of such beverages is the promoting cause of in- 
temperance, crime, and pauperism, and of demands upon public 
and private charity, imposing the larger part of taxation, para- 
lyzing thrift, industry, manufactures, and commercial life, 
which, but for it, would be unnecessary; disturbing the peace of 
streets and highways; filling prisons and. poor-houses; corrupting 
politics, legislation, and the execution of the laws; shortening 
lives; diminishing health, industry, and productive power in 
manufactures and art; and is manifestly unjust as well as injuri- 
ous to the community upon which it is imposed, and is contrary 
to all just views of civil liberty, as well as a violation of the 
fundamental maxim of our common law, to use your own pro- 
perty or liberty so as not to injure others. 

Fifth. It is neither right nor politic for the State to afford 
legal protection to any traffic or any system which tends to 
waste the resources, to corrupt the social habits, and to destroy 
the health and lives of the people; that the importation, manu- 
facture, and sale of intoxicating beverages is proven to be inimi- 
cal to the true interests of the individual home, community, and 
State, and destructive to the order and welfare of society, and 
ought, therefore, to be classed among crimes to be prohibited. 

1 Sixth. In this time of prof o and peace at home and abroad, 
the entire separation of the general Government from the drink- 
traffic, and its prohibition in the District of Columbia, Territories, 
and in all places and ways over which, under the Constitution, 
Congress has control and power, is a political issue of the first 
importance to the peace and prosperity of the Nation. There 
can be no stable peace and protection to personal liberty, life, or 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 229 

property, until secured by national or State constitutional pro- 
visions, enforced by adequate laws. 

Seventh. All legitimate industries require deliverance from 
the taxation and loss which the liquor traffic imposes upon them; 
and financial or other legislation could not accomplish so much 
to increase production and cause a demand for labor, and, as a 
result, for the comforts of living, as the suppression of this traffic 
would bring to thousands of homes as one of its blessings. 

Eighth. The administration of the Government and the execu- 
tion of the laws are through political parties; and we arraign the 
Eepublican Party, which has been in continuous power in the 
nation for twenty years, as being false to duty, as false to 
loudly proclaimed principles of equal justice to all and special 
favors to none, and of protection to the weak and dependent, 
insensible to the mischief which the trade in liquor has con- 
stantly inflicted upon industry, trade, commerce, and the social 
happiness of the people; that 5,652 distilleries, 3,830 breweries, 
and 175,266 places for the sale of these poisonous liquors, involv- 
ing an annual waste to the nation of one million five hundred 
thousand dollars, and the sacrifice of one hundred thousand 
lives, have, under its legislation, grown up and been fostered as 
a legitimate source of revenue ; that during its history, six Ter- 
ritories have been organized and five States been admitted into 
the Union, with Constitutious provided and approved by Con- 
gress, but the prohibition of this debasing and destructive traffic 
has not been provided, nor even the people given, at the time of 
admission, power to forbid it in any one of them. Its history 
further shows, that not in a single instance has an original 
prohibitory law been passed by any State that was controlled by 
it, while in four States, so governed, the laws found on its 
advent to power have been repealed. At its national convention 
in 1872, it declared, as part of its party faith, that " it disap- 
proves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of 
removing evils, by interference with rights not surrendered by 
the people to either the State or National Government," which, 
the author of this plank says, was adopted by the platform com- 
mittee with the full and implicit understanding that its purpose 



230 HAND-BOOK OP POLITICAL 

was the discountenancing of all so-called temperance, prohibitory, 
and Sunday laws. 

Mnth. We arraign, also, the Democratic Party « "A"** . 
andnnworthy of reliance on this question; for although not 
clotted with power, but occupying the relation of an opposite* 
party during twenty years past, strong in numbers and organ- ► 
SSton, it hfs allied itself with liquor-traffickers and become in 
all the States of the Union, their special polit ica defender* «rt 
iu its national convention in 1876, as an article of .* potocal 
faith, declared against prohibition and just laws m ,» ra.nt of 
the trade in drink, by saying it was opposed to what ; . .was 
pleased to call " all sumptuary laws." The National Party has 
been dumb on this question. 

Tenth. Drink-traffickers, having the history and experience 
of all ages, climes, and conditions of men, declaring their busi- 
ness destructive of all good-finding no support in the Bibte, 
morals, or reason-appeal to misapplied law for their justifica- 
tion and intrench themselves behind the evil elements of poli- 
tical' party for defense, party tactics and party inert.a become 
battling forces, protecting this evil. 

Eleventh. In view of the foregoing facts and history we 
cordially invite all voters, without regard to former party affilia- 
tes to unite with us in the use of the ballot for £>*»'» 
of the drinking system, under the authority of our Nat.onaland 
State Governments. We also demand, as a right, that women 
having the privileges of citizens in other respects be clothed 
S*« for their protection, and as a rightful means for 
the proper settlement of the liquor question. 

Twelfth. To remove the apprehension of some who allege that 
a loss of public revenue would follow the suppression of the 
direct trade we confidently point to the experience of govern- 
m „ts abroad and at home, which shows that <**%*££?» 
from the consumption of legitimate manufactures and commerce 
have so largely followed the abolition of drink as to fully supply 
all loss of liquor taxes. 

Thirteenth. We recognize the good providence of JW* 
God, who has preserved and prospered us as anation; and asking 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 231 

for His Spirit to guide us to ultimate success, we all look for it, 
relying upon His omnipotent arm. 



1880. 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, CINCINNATI, OHIO, 

JUNE 22. 

The Democrats of the United States, in convention assembled, 
declare: 

First. We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional doc- 
trines and traditions of the Democratic Party, as illustrated by 
the teachings and examples of a long line of Democratic states- 
men and patriots, and embodied in the platform of the last 
national convention of the Party. 

Second. Opposition to centralization, and to that dangerous 
spirit of encroachment which tends to consolidate the powers of 
all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form 
of government, a real despotism; no sumptuary laws; separation 
of the church and state for the good of each; common schools 
fostered and protected. 

Third. Home rule; honest money, consisting of gold and 
silver, and paper convertible into coin on demand; the strict 
maintenance of the public faith, State and national; and a tariff 
for revenue only; the subordination of the military to the civil 
power; and a general and thorough reform of the civil service. 

Fourth. The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of 
all rights; and must and shall be maintained in every part of the 
United States. 

Fifth. The existing administration is the representative of 
conspiracy only; and its claim of right to surround the ballot- 
boxes with troops and deputy marshals, to intimidate and ob- 
struct the elections, and the unprecedented use of the veto to 
maintain its corrupt and despotic power, insults the people and 
imperils their institutions. We execrate the course of this ad- 
ministration in making places in the civil service a reward for 
political crime; and demand a reform, by statute, which shall 



232 HAND-BOOK OF POLITICAL 

make it for ever impossible for a defeated candidate to bribe 
his way to the seat of a usurper by billeting villains upon the 
people. 

Sixth. The great fraud of 1876-7, by which, upon a false 
count of the Electoral votes of two States, the candidate defeated 
at the polls was declared to be President, and, for the first time 
in American history, the will of the people was set aside under a 
threat of military violence, struck a deadly blow at our system 
of representative government. The Democratic Party, to pre- 
serve the country from the horrors of a civil war, submitted for 
the time, in the firm and patriotic belief that the people would 
punish the crime in 1880. This issue precedes and dwarfs every 
other. It imposes a more sacred duty upon the people of the 
[Jnion than ever addressed the consciences of a nation of 
freemen. 

Seventh. The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden, not again to be 
a candidate for the exalted place to which he was elected by a 
majority of his countrymen, and from which he was excluded by 
the leaders of the Eepublican Party, is received by the Dem - 
crats of the United States with deep sensibility; and they de- 
clare their confidence in his wisdom, patriotism, and integrity 
unshaken by the assaults of the common enemy; and they 
further assure him that he is followed into the retirement he has 
chosen for himself by the sympathy and respect of his fellow- 
citizens, who regard him as one who, by elevating the standard 
of public morality, and adorning and purifying the public ser- 
vice, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his party. 

Eighth. Free ships, and a living chance for American com- 
merce upon the seas; and on the land, no discrimination in 
favor of transportation lines, corporations, or monopolies. 

Ninth. Amendments of the Burlingame treaty; no more 
Chinese immigration, except for travel, education, and foreign 
commerce, and, therein, carefully guarded. 

Tenth. Public money and public credit for public purposes 
solely, and public land for actual settlers. 

Eleventh. The Democratic Party is the friend of labor and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



233 



the laboring man, and pledges itself to protect him alike against 
the cormorants and the commune. 

Twelfth. We congratulate the country upon the honesty and 
thrift of a Democratic Congress, which has reduced the public 
expenditure $10,000,000 a year; upon the continuation of pros- 
perity at home and the national honor abroad; and, above all, 
upon the promise of such a change in the administration of the 
Government as shall insure a genuine and lasting reform in 
every department of the public service. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Abolition Party 15 

Adams, John, Biography of 38 

Adams, John Quincy, Biography of 59 

Adams's Position 40 

Adams, Samuel, Biography of 14 

Abolition Resolutions, 1839 128 

Alien and Sedition Laws 40 

Administration of Washington 26 

" a John Adams, 38 

n a Jefferson 43 

ii a Madison 47 

u h Monroe 54 

// a John Quincy Adams, 59 

// // Jackson 64 

a a Van Buren 72 

h ii Harrison and Tyler 76 

u a Polk 81 

u a Taylor and Fillmore , . 84 

a a Pierce 88 

/' a Buchanan 92 

// // Lincoln 93 

a a Johnson 103 

u a Grant % 108 

u a Hayes 115 

Amendments 105 

American National Platform, 1875 199 

American Party 87 

American Platform, 1856 155 

Annexation of Texas 74, 79, 82 

Anti-Federal Party 24, 25, 33 

Anti-Nebraska 91 

Anti-Masonic Resolutions, 1830 126 

Anti-Slavery Society 69 

Anti-Slavery Mail 70 



236 INDEX. 

PAGE! 

Army and Navy 40 

Antiquity of America - 71 

Articles of Confederation 20 

Assassination of Lincoln 102 

Atlantic Cable 110 

Attempt to Kecharter the National Bank 68 

Bank Removals ®® 

Bill of Rights ■ 33 

Blockade 105 

Blue Light Telegraph 53 

Brown's Raid, John 93 

Buchanan, James, Biography of 92 

Buffalo Platform, 1848 14 2 

Burrites. . . . , - 4o 

Cabinet, President's .' 

Calhoun, John C, Biography of 49 

Canvass of 1848 83 

Certain Inventions • • • • 75 

Church and State 44 

Civil Rights 106 

Civil Service Reform • • -U2, 117 

Clay and Calhoun 48 

Clay, Henry, Biography of • 48 

Clinton, Geo., Biography of 22 

Clintonian Platform, 1812 122 

Clintonians 51 

Conciliation **■* 

Compromise Measures, 1850 . _• • • 86 

Colonial 18 > 19 

12 
Colonies 

Confederate • - 107 

Confederation, Articles of 20 

Confederation, Weakness of - 23 

Constitutional Union Party 9 jJ 

Constitution formed 23 

Constitutional Platform, 1860 168 

Constitutional Union Party 96 

Continental Congress.?. 20 

Cost of the Civil War 105 



r 



INDEX. 237 

PAGE 

Currency and Finances 101 

Death of the Federal Party 52 

Death of Harrison , „ 78 

Debts , 33 

Declaration of Independence 20 

Democratic Elections, 1824 , 57 

// Platforms, 1840 123 

// Republican Party 34, 41 

// Republican Principles 44 

// Platform, 1844 135 

« a 1848 13G 

// » 1852! 146 

« a 1856 157 

// « 1860 173 

n a 1864 179 

ii a 1868 1S3 

* a 1872 194 

* (Straight out) Platform, 1872 108 

// Platform, 1876 208 

a n 1830 231 

Departments Provided by Constitution 15 

// Heads of 8 

Department, Executive 7 

u Legislative 6 

// Judicial 7 

Departments under Washington 31 

a a John Adams 38 

" " Jefferson. 43 

// // Madison 50 

" // Monroe 55 

" " John Quincy Adams 61 

" " Jackson 65 

i> a Yan Buren 73 

« a Harrison and Tyler 77 

a a Polk 81 

" ii Taylor and Fillmore 85 

a a Pierce 88 

a n Buchanan 93 

n " Lincoln , 100 



238 INDEX. 

PAGB 

Departments under Johnson 105 

« // Grant HO 

// // Hayes 116 

Downfall of Federal Party 41 

Diplomacy in Madison's Administration , 51 

Divorce of Bank and State 75 

Dissolution of the Whig Party 87 

Downfall of Federalism 41 

Drafts 100 

Dred Scott Decision > .. • 96 

Election of 1792 34 

Eligibility to Office of President. . . I 9 

Election of 1796 34 

// 1800 41 

» 1804 45 

// 1808 45 

// 1812 51 

„ 1816 32 

// 1820 57 

» 1824 57 

// 1832 69 

1836 -. 70 

„ 1840 75 

,/ 1844 • 79 

„ 1852 87 

// 1356 91 

// 1860 97 

» 1864 102 

// 1868 .' 107 

1872. 113 

v 1876 , 114 

r/ 1880 H8 

Emancipation - 102 

Embargo 45 

Embargo, Third 51 

Enforcement of Election Laws 117 

Enlargement of Freedman's Bureau 106 

England 34 

English Bill 96 



INDEX. 239 

PAGB 

Era of Good Feeling 56 

Extract of Kentucky Resolutions 119 

Extract of Virginia Resolutions 119 

Extra Session 74 

Federal Government Defined 5 

Federal Appropriation, 1812 52 

Federal Party 24, 25, 31 

Federal Party, Death of 52 

Federalism, Downfall of 41 

Federal Opposition to the War 52 

Field, Cyrus W 93 

Fifteenth Amendment 112 

Financial Policy 33 

Fillmore, Millard, Biography of. 85 

Fillmore's Acession and Secession 86 

Finances 113 

First President 25 

Florida Cession G6 

Foreign Minister 110 

Foreign Policy of France 34 

Fourteenth Amendment 106 

France, War against 40 

France during John Adams's Administration 40 

Freedman's Bureau 102 

Free Soil Party 83 

Free Soil Platform, 1852 150 

Geneva Tribunal 110 

Government for the Mexican Cession 86 

Grangers, The , 112 

Grant, Ulysses S., Biography of 108 

Growth of Cities 46 

Hamilton, Biography of 35 

Hamilton and Jefferson „ 33 

Hancock, John, Biography of 13 

Hartford Convention 52 

Harrison, William H., Biography of. 76 

Harrison, Death of 78 

Hayes, Rutherford B. , Biography of 115 

Heads of Departments 8, 11 



240 INDEX. 

PAGE 

Henry, Patrick 16 

Hunkers and Barn Burners. 79 

Independent (Greenback) Platform, 1876 203 

Independent Republican Principles 217 

Independent Republicans 118 

Index 235 

Impeachment « . • 107 

Imporcant Events, Jefferson's Administration, 43 

Inauguration (Lincoln) 101 

Indiana, Slaves in 44 

Internal Revenue > 33 

Internal Improvement 56, 68, 82 

Issues, Monroe's Administration 56 

Issues, Jackson's 65 

Jackson's Advice. , , , 56 

Jackson, Andrew, Biography of 64 

Jackson and Calhoun 68 

Jackson's Inaugural 66 

Jay, John, Biography of 36 

Jefferson, Thomas, Biography of 42 

Johnson's Acts as President 106 

Johnson, Andrew, Biography of 103 

Judiciary of the United States 80 

Kansas Nebraska Bill •. 90 

Kansas "War ■ 91 

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions 40 

Knox, General Henry, 23 

KuKlux 112 

Land Proceeds 68 

Labor Reform Party 112 

Labor Reform Platform, 1872 187 

Le Compton Constitution 96 

Lee, Richard Henry 21 

Legislation for Kansas 91 

Liberal Republicans H 3 

Liberty Party 75 

Liberty League $3 

Liberal Republican Platform, 1872 * . 192 

Liberty Platform, 1848 130 



INDEX. 241 

PAGE 

Limited Veto 78 

Limiting the President's Power 107 

Lincoln, Abraham, Biography of 98 

Loans 105 

Locofocos 70 

Locofoco Platform, 1830 r 126 

Louisiana, Purchase of 44 

Madison, James, Biography of 47 

Madison's Policy 51 

Mexican War 82 

Militia 33 

Missouri Question 56 

Mode of Electing and Vice-President 9 

Monroe, James, Biography of 54 

Monroe Doctrine 57 

Monroe Retirement 57 

National Bank 51, 52, 68, 78 

Native American Party 79 

National Liberal Platform, 1879 217 

National (Greenback) Platform, 1880 223 

National Party * Ill, 112 

National Eepublican Platform, 1832 126 

National Platform, 1878 214 

Naturalization , 40, 44 

Negro Exodus _ 117 

Negro Soldiers 102 

Negro Suffrage 107 

Nominations of 1848 83 

Nominations of 1880 118 

Non-Intercourse t 45 

Nullification Ordinance 69 

Nullification Party 68 

Old Whig Party 20 

Officers of Congress «. <... 63 

Omnibus Bill 86 

Opposition to the War (Rebellion) 101 

Oregon 82 

Origin of Parties 20 

Osgood, Samuel, Biography of 14 



242 INDEX. 

PAGE 

Panic of 1837 • ? 4 

Particularists 23 

Party Adjustment * 101 

Party Changes 100 

Party Issues.. 39, 51, 56, 65, 73, 78, 83, 86, 89, 96, 100, 105, 111, 117 

Peace Party -. 53 

People's Party, 1824 57 

Pierce, Franklin, Biography of 88 

Pierce's Political Faith 90 

Platforms of Political Parties 119 

Political Excitement 4S 

Polk's Inaugural • « • • • • 82 

Polk, James K. , Biography of . . . . 81 

Policy, Yan Buren's ^ 

Preface 

Post Office Statistics , 53 

President's Cabinet : • . • 8 

Proceedings under the Constitution 25 

Prohibition Platform, 1872 190 

„ (Reform) Platform, 1876 200 

„ /, // 1880 226 

Protective Tariff ■ 53 > 57 

Purchase of Louisiana 44 

Radical Platform, 1 864 • 1~5 

Randolph, Edrnond 15 

Ratio of Representation • • HO 

Reconstruction • . .102, 106, 112 

Recall of Troops from the South 116 

Refunding • 118 

Removal of Deposits G9 

Removal of Stanton « 107 

Representatives, House of 7 

Republican, Democratic, Platform, 1800 120 

» - Platform, 1856 104 

;, // 1860 169 

„ « 1864 1^6 

„ i, 1868 180 

„ u 1872 194 

„ // 1876 204 



INDEX. 243 

_, PAGE 

Republican Platform, 1880 o 19 

Republican Party 91 

Republican went into disuse 44 

Republicanism, Democratic, tested 45 

Republicans, Democratic, unopposed 57 

Resolutions, Hartford, Coun 123 

Resumption of Specie Payments 114 117 

Retirement of Washington 34 

Revolutionary War 19 

Right of Petition 70 74 

Rupture of the Cabinet of John Adams .' 41 

Rupture between the President and Whigs. 78 

San Domingo Ho 

Secession Planned 45 

Secession (Southern States) 97 

Senate g 

Silver Dollar , go 

Silver Grays g^ 

Slavery 34 

Slaves in Indiana 44 

Southern States in Military District 105 

Southern Troubles H2 

Special Circular 70 

Stamp Act 40 

State Banks gg 

State Government in the South 113 

State Sovereignty 33 

State Bank Depositories 74 

Straight-Out Democrats. 112 

Strong Government Men 23 

Sub-Treasury 69j 74) 78> g 2 

Suggestions to Pupils ; 5 

Tammany Hg 

Tariff and Internal Revenue 102 

Tariff 33, 69, 82 

Taylor, Zachary, Biography of 84 

Taylor's Policy gg 

Temperance Party HI 112 

Territorial Legislation , 90 



244 INDEX. 

PAGE 

Texas 70 

Third Embargo ••• &l 

Thirteenth Amendment • *00 

Topeka Constitution 90 

Tory Party. ...-'. 20 

Troops furnished by the first Thirteen States 37 

Tyler's Inaugural ;...." 7 8 

Tyler, John, Biography of • • • 76 

UteWar... • 116 

Yan Buren, Martin, Biography of ?2 

Yan Buren' s Policy ^ 

Yictors and the Spoils 68 

Yolunteers, Drafts and Issues - 100 

War, Federal Opposition to 53 

War of the Kevolution 13 

War against France 40 

War of 1812 51 

War (Rebellion) 101 

Washington, George, Biography of 20 

Washington, Retirement of • 34 

Webster, Daniel, Biography of 66 

Webster, Hayne, Debate • 66 

Weakness of the Confederation. .* • 33 

Whig Party, New 70 

Whig Party, Old. 30 

Whigs in Power ' ° 

Wilmot Proviso * 

Wilson I. James, Biography of 15 

Whig Resolutions, 1836 127 

Whig Platform, 1844 135 

Whig Principles, 1848. 140 

.Whig Platform, 1852 148 

Whig Platform, 1856. 166 

Wyandot Constitution '••• 96 



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